Supernova in the Sky
by LadyHammer
Summary: Planet Mau is thrilled when their queen is finally reborn years after Tin Nyanko's horrid visit. However, the first thing Princess Mau does is send Rufus on a guardian mission to Earth to find the missing princess of some kingdom! He's not quite cut out.
1. Destiny of a Mau

Lady's notes: Hey there, everyone! This is my first ever fanfic... sort of revised from the ideas I had as a little girl **eight years ago**. Hehe. So, yes, I am a boring person because yes, I did make a generic Sailor Sun. Well... _I_ don't think she's very generic, but we have yet to get there, eh? I'll let you guys be the judge of that.

So yeah... time period is... after Stars? Guess so... sounds about right to me... okay letssss go!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

_Ch. I_

The day millions had been waiting for had finally arrived. Stars lit up the sky and shined down on millions of jubilant eyes and twitching whiskers. From afar with mouths agape, felines stared in awe as a nova went off atop the Mau castle. Their princess was finally being reborn.

The light on planet Mau could be seen in the sky from surrounding planets, and it only lasted for a split second. But, a second was all it took. The light quickly died down, leaving behind a tiny orb. One cat, a large black and white feline, approached, his paws landing pensively on the diamond cobblestone road until he entered the castle's glorious atrium. Columns lined the edge of the open yard, and just before the large castle doors was what he sought.

"Princess?"

His voice echoed softly down the atrium in which the orb resided. Slowly, it formed into a humanoid infant.

"Princess!"

Rushing to her, the cat curled up around the baby, his large golden-green eyes almost tearful, he was so happy. They had been too long without a princess.

Suddenly, a voice wafted through the damp night air.

"Rufus…" The feline's ears perked. "Rufus, this is Sailor Mau… your queen…"

"But that's impossible! Queen Mau! Where are you?" Rufus called, standing to his feet again. The voice was a faint beacon light in the sky, barely audible but still there, and it felt like a sliver of hope in his stomach.

"I am a mere spirit. Left behind after Tin Nyanko came, but I am here to guide my reincarnation, to help her grow into a beautiful ruler of this planet!"

Something sent a chill down the cat's spine at the mention of Tin Nyanko. The horror that had taken planet Mau's queen from them in the first place.

"I can help, Queen Mau!" Rufus said, curling his long tail around the baby to keep it warm. For a brief moment, he looked down and smiled at her as she reached her small, chubby arm for his tail.

"No, Rufus, I have a task for you. Now that I am reincarnated, my duty to provide guardians to new star seeds is once more upon me." Rufus's eyes widened.

"A guardian? Surely you aren't going to make—"

"You? Of course I am!" The voice chuckled just slightly, giving way to a small bead of sweat gathering at the cat's temple. He would graciously admit any day that he was far from guardian material.

"I don't know…"

"You're perfect, Rufus. The Queen of the Sun would've handpicked you herself!" Queen Mau's voice said happily, as rich and melodic as he remembered it. To the cat's relief, the baby cooed in reassurance.

"The Queen of the Sun?" he echoed.

"Yes. Earth's sun. Their kingdom is a dangerous place, and their princess was sent to Earth three years ago for her safety. But she has no recollection of her true memories, and time is dire on the Sun. They need her," the queen explained. Rufus knew he would have to find her. He knew that's what his mission was. The retrieval of the Sun Princess.

"Aren't there other princesses on Earth, too?" he asked. "Couldn't they find her?"

"You will know why I entrusted you with this task soon enough, Rufus. Are you ready?" It was time to panic. He wasn't cut out to be a guardian cat! He had learned of those who were, who knew what to do. However, he knew not a thing of the job.

"I know what you're thinking," the queen said, a snicker somewhere in her voice. "Don't worry. I'll help you. Now look into Princess Mau's eyes." With a gulp and a nod, the feline obeyed, and the infant looked at him with her bright yellow eyes. A golden circle suddenly appeared, shining, on Rufus's forehead. This was it. He was no longer a simple cat of the Mau Court.

"If you need me, I will find you…" she whispered. His tail flicked nervously as his surroundings faded away one by one – the pillars and columns in the atrium, the grass, the diamond cobblestone road, the Mau Castle, and at last, the sky. The final thing he could hear was Queen Mau wishing him a good luck.

* * *

A pale purple cascaded into pink and orange as the sun rose just above the horizon, waking the birds who had yet to leave the nest, and the earliest of risers in Japan. Dew glistened like tiny crystals over everything – grass, rooftops, car windshields, and Rufus's dirty coat of fur. He found himself in a lonely alley with a dumpster that had just been emptied by the passing garbage truck. 

No breakfast for him. He was much too… hefty to hunt anything down, either. Oh well, he thought. It was time to scavenge, and hope that Queen Mau could provide him with some direction. After all, what if the Sun Princess was in a completely different part of this planet?

Once he had finished a nice stretch, Rufus padded along out of the alleyway, and set his eyes on the building beside him.

Ichiban Taiyou Orphanage.

"Number one sun… maybe she did send me in the right direction!"

* * *

I promise the next chapter will have some actual length to it...


	2. Capella Challenge

Lady's Notes: Oookay... I'm hoping that this won't be so cliche it'll make everyone sick. I'm really trying to avoid that, and I know that Sailor Sun is generally cliche. Don't hate me, though, okay? I'm trying! I've never written a moonie fic before, but I guess I know enough to. I just don't know age gaps between canon characters so I'm just gonna make that part up.

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

* * *

"KOTORI!!!"

Silence.

"HEY! _KOTORIII!!_"

A slight moan, and a toss of the white comforter.

"DAMN YOU, WAKE UP!"

A woman looking no older than 20 made a mad dash into the room, a heap of long, platinum blonde hair following behind her as she leapt onto a single-sized mattress and the figure sleeping in it. Immediately, the tiresome redhead woke.

"_Capella!_ What the hell was that for?" she yelled, shoving the girl off. Capella put her hands on her hips, her blue eyes sternly on Kotori.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, I do," Kotori answered. "Now let me finish sleeping." With that, she laid back down and drew the white blanket over her head.

"Kotori, it's 5:30!" Capella whined, standing over the mattress. It was scruffy and obviously old, because a small spring was poking out of the corner. "If we don't get up, we aren't going to have enough time to make breakfast for the kids!"

"Cereal doesn't take but a minute to fix," Kotori moaned, a yawn audible beneath the blanket. "I need my beauty sleep. No little kid is gonna want to see a girl with a matted mane like mine in the morning…"

"SO GET UP AND TAKE A SHOWER!"

Capella pulled up the ends of the mattress and flipped it over, throwing Kotori out right on her butt. Sighing in relent, the redhead folded her arms.

"Fine. What are we making that takes an hour and a half to prepare?"

"Well, since it's Saturday," Capella said happily, digging through Kotori's pile of clothes, "I thought we'd fix them a nice big pancake breakfast! I'll work on the pancakes while you can work on the eggs and bacon! Doesn't that sound nice?" Kotori let out a big, tearful yawn and stretched.

"I'd rather have mochi…"

"Well it's not about what you want!" Capella said, tossing the redhead a long denim skirt. "Don't you have anything long-sleeved in here? That's not so… well…"

"Flashy? I like flashy things. I've got this black velvet thing in there somewhere… it _should_ be clean…"

Capella rolled her eyes. _Should_be clean. She was used to Kotori's ways by now, however, and found the long sleeved black shirt she was referring to.

"Here, now get dressed! There might be some mochi left over from last night's dessert if you hurry it up, okay?"

"God I _hate_ being 18…"

The redhead dragged her feet all the way to the tiny bathroom her and Capella shared, the one that the blonde always kept clean. She grabbed some undergarments from the hamper – _They're probably clean anyway…_- and dropped her clothes on the toilet seat. It was too early to be waking up, she thought. She needed to get out on her own. The handles squeaked as Kotori turned on the shower, and once the water heated up, she jumped in.

"Why am I still at this wretched place?" she murmured, shuddering as the warm water pounded on her back. "I'm 18, I shouldn't be at the orphanage anymore. They can find someone else to make the children food everyday…" Angrily, she reached for the shampoo bottle.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Capella was attempting to clean up Kotori's mess, as she usually did every morning. She was used to acting like the girl's mother, by now, even though they were roughly the same age. The girl had a knack for being extravagant and bold, but lazy. Humming to herself, she threw some clothes that had an obviously dirty stench into a small hamper, and then decided it was a nice day, and drew the blinds on the window.

Only to see a large cat staring back at her. Capella gasped and took a step back, glaring right to the gold circle on Rufus's forehead. Unprepared for the encounter, Rufus stood and took a few steps back on the windowsill, careful not to knock over any plants. His mouth and hers hung agape.

Why was she so shocked to see him? He should be just an ordinary cat to her!

"Meow?"

"Don't you pull that with me!" Capella shouted, pointing her finger at him. "I know what you're up to!" Something wasn't right. Queen Mau never said anything about someone recognizing him!

"Meeeoooow?"

"I said stop that!" Capella bolted over to the window and slammed it open, and with a grunt, she grabbed Rufus and hefted him into the air. "Damn you're heavy… but you can't fool me! You stay away from her, you hear? You can't have her!"

"Meow?"

"Just talk already!"

Rufus sighed in defeat. "Okay… you may know what I'm talking about, but I have no clue what _you're_ talking about…"

"Yeah right! I know the Sun Kingdom's symbol, and I know where your kind come from!" Capella shouted, glaring into the cat's eyes. "You're posing from the Sun Kingdom, but you're really trying to take their princess back to Mau because you don't have one anymore!"

"That is _not_ true!" the cat yelled back, wriggling from Capella's grasp and falling to the floor. "Our Queen has been reborn, and she sent me here because the Sun Queen needs someone to bring their princess back! I was told that time is dire on the Sun! They need the help of their princess!"

"Oh yeah?" Capella said, folding her arms. "Why? What's the big deal with the Sun Kingdom?" Rufus was miffed. He had no idea. Queen Mau never told him exactly what was happening. Pouting, he sat.

"I don't know… I don't know anything… I knew I wasn't cut out for this…"

"Capella! Who the hell are you talking to?"

"Oh no, she's out of the shower!" the girl whispered, biting her nails. "Get out of here, you!" Rufus looked up at her awkwardly. Who did she think she was? He was on a mission! "_Scram_!"

Good enough for him! With amazing speed for a fat cat like him, Rufus leapt on the windowsill and out of sight. Sighing, Capella leaned against the wall, staring out at the sky. Things were about to change.

"Huh? Who was that? You're creepy when you talk to yourself," Kotori said, coming out of the bathroom in her undergarments, drying her hair with an old, crusty towel. "You should go see someone about that."

"I know."

And with that, Capella exited the room and headed for the kitchen. At this point, Kotori was _determined_ to find out who the girl had been talking to. Usually nothing could slap her out of her determined mood, and something had definitely made her distracted. Poking her head around, the redhead found the window to be open, and, ignoring the cold air that brought goosebumps down her wet body, she surveyed the land down below. Alleys upon alleys, a garbage truck moseying down the road, and a pink-haired girl nearly trampled by quite possibly one of the biggest cats Kotori had seen.

Pink-haired girl! Ah!

"Dammit! Capella, I forgot ChibiUsa was coming to volunteer today! We've got to clean the kitchen!"

"Why?" the other girl called from afar. "She's just as much of a pig as you are!"

"Hey!"


	3. An Ugly Truth

Lady's Notes: Okay, before anyone says anything... yes, I _know_ the mail doesn't come at six in the morning. But in my land it does, okay? Hahaha. It just seemed like a good way for things to go, so I made it happen. I have very little of this planned out, and I kinda just wrote it on a whim, so forgive me if mishaps like that occur a lot. Oh, and THANKYOU SO MUCH to my reviewers! It made me so happy to know that people were impressed with my beginning! I hope you continue reading!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

_Ch. 3_

Sulking, the large black and white cat made his way far from the Ichiban Taiyou Orphanage, his head hung low and maw in a prominent frown. This sucked. He hadn't even spent three hours in this stupid place, and his identity was already spoiled! How did that girl _know_ him? She couldn't be the girl he was looking for, could she?

"ChibiUsa, look!"

Rufus's ears picked up the voice of another. Turning slightly, he met the face of a pink-haired, red-eyed girl, who stared at him with the most inquisitive of stares. He leapt out of the way quickly before she had the time to trample him. After the massive feline was out of sight, the girl stopped, questioning what she had just seen.

"What was that, Diana?" she asked, pulling a pair of glasses from her fluffy white purse pocket. A small grey kitten nestled on her head was uneasy. The early sunlight caught gleam on the crescent moon on its forehead.

"That cat… he might've been one of us!" she exclaimed, turning her head. ChibiUsa laughed and shook her head.

"He didn't have a moon on his head! I know how you guys work!"

"No I'm serious!" Diana snapped, jumping off ChibiUsa and wandering down the street a few steps, her eyes searching for Rufus. "That was no moon on his head, sure… but it was something else! He's someone's guardian!"

"Well, we'll look for him later. I'm hungry, and I need community service hours!"

"I don't know why they give you the hours… you eat all of the food you make… you're just as bad as your mother!"

Ignoring her kitten who was acting like she'd be "on the rag" if she were human, ChibiUsa made her way briskly to the orphanage. She did have a knack of eating as she cooked, but a friend had told her that's how every good cook functioned! And Kino Makoto was a _very_ good cook. It didn't take the girl very long to catch on to her friend's lessons, either. ChibiUsa's mother was so lousy in the kitchen, she had to do _something_ if she was going to survive.

Once the girl arrived, the old wall clock read 5:55. If she was correct, Capella would be having an OCD moment right about now. Those were always exciting to watch. Diana left ChibiUsa and stationed herself on a windowsill, keeping her tiny frame behind a pot of marigolds, and watched sternly for Rufus. Also, she hated the little kids smothering her. Unlike her mother, Diana had become a little reclusive in the past year. ChibiUsa meandered to the volunteer desk – empty as no one with a right mind would be awake just yet – and found a sign in sheet. She came every Thursday, and… no one else had signed the sheet for months. Quietly, she signed her name with hearts and went into the kitchen. The usual scenario applied.

"YOU HAVE TOO MANY LUMPS IN IT!"

"THE MIX WAS LUMPY!"

"Then you should have SIFTED IT!"

What was funny was that despite their constant nagging, Kotori and Capella were the closest of friends. Kotori glared to the blonde girl while sticking out her tongue, sloppily beating the pancake batter with a wooden spoon.

"_Nya_!"

"Don't you _nya_ at me!" Capella snapped back, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm mixing your eggs!"

"Big deal! I coulda mixed my eggs on my own!"

"Yeah? Well I probably coulda done a better job with my pancake batter!"

There was a sliver of silence.

"Wanna switch?"

"Yeah."

ChibiUsa laughed and grabbed one of the aprons hanging on a wall peg after surveying the daily scene.

"Good morning, you two. Looks like we're making a big breakfast this morning!" she said, waving. Capella grabbed a wet rag and wiped up the granite counter top and offered the space to the kitchen's newcomer.

"We sure are! Frying bacon is probably too dangerous for someone younger like yourself… I know! You can make the scrambled eggs!" she said, handing ChibiUsa a whisk.

"Hey! I wanted to do the eggs! Frying bacon hurts…"

"So don't turn the heat up all the way and it won't pop hot bacon grease at you all the time!" The pink-haired girl sighed. Sometimes being in the kitchen was… awkward. Kotori somewhat reluctantly handed her the eggs, and ChibiUsa heated up a frying pan and dropped in a bit of butter. If there was one thing her mother had taught her, it was that you could _never_ have enough butter.

"It's about six… I'm gonna go check the mail before I start the bacon!" Kotori suddenly said, removing an obnoxious lemon yellow apron. Capella couldn't believe she didn't realize how ridiculous some of the stuff she owned was.

"Alright. Hurry back, the aloe is waiting for you."

Praying for a letter, Kotori rushed outside and down the walkway to the large mailbox. It was large because Ichiban Taiyou housed about 50 children, all who eagerly awaited a letter from a surprise parent daily. Kotori wasn't any different. She knew she had parents out there somewhere. And, deep down inside, she felt that someone was looking for her.

Maybe today was the day?

She reached for the mail box keys in her pocket and jammed them in the lock, twisting the old thing until it finally gave, and she pulled it open. There had to be nearly 20 letters. Nothing new. Serving out her patience-lacking manner, she rummaged through them – pink envelopes, blue envelopes, plain white ones, some with cute characters on them, a few neat postcards from places like Honshuu and even Germany, and… what was this? Her fingers pulled out a tall, mustard-yellow parcel.

With Capella's name on it? The redhead's anger boiled over like a volcano, and before her conscience could say anything about it –

"Yes, I am jealous! Are you happy?" For a quick second, she considered getting help about talking to herself, but then carefully opened the package. She was going to see just what was so damn special about Capella and not her.

Inside was a letter. Just a damn letter. For all the hard work the sender seemed to have gone through, Kotori was honestly disappointed, and was about to put it back when her curiosity got the best of her.

* * *

_Dear Capella-san,_

_I realize you hate me, but I pray that you don't disregard this letter. Your mission is your pride, I understand. But it is time to let the last of it unfold. Let Kotori know about who she is! It's unfair to shelter her from the truth when her true home is in danger, and you know this. Quit being selfish for your own pride, you know she can handle it. I will give you three days. If I find out that nothing has been said to her, I am coming down to tell her myself._

_And trust me, I'll know._

_Sincerely,_

* * *

Something told her that she might've been happier just holding a little jealous grudge towards Capella. This was just plan _mean_.

"All this time I thought that dirty witch was my friend! And here I find out… oooh! Wait till I get my hands on her!" Kotori said, biting her lip and shoving the letter carelessly inside the envelope. There was no way Capella was going to see what was in it. As she took the rest of the letters inside, Rufus crept out from behind a flower pot, his interest piqued.

"I've got to see what's on that letter…"


	4. Awkward Silence

Lady's Notes: I am attempting to correct my mistake and make this chapter a bit longer. I hope I did well! I tried to make it more... episode-like with more stuff going on. I got a pretty good idea as I was writing this, too... I rather like it. And I must keep on saying this, too... my Sun senshi will not disappoint you! She's not like all the rest! Hehe. She has a non-cliche story behind her, hopefully. And it will unfold!

Oh, and before I forget... I wanted to thank the people who review my fic. It really means a lot, especially since you're kind and constructive about it! Thankyou!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

_Ch. 4_

The majority of the day went over quite well, Kotori managing to keep her anger in check and pretend like everything was swell between her and Capella. She suspected nothing. ChibiUsa, however, sniffed something peculiar in the air. With frequent breaks in cooking to check in with Diana, the young girl finally decided to go home for the day around two in the afternoon.

"Well, you certainly had a good idea for lunch, Kotori," the blonde said, running the dishwasher at last. "The kids really loved the pasta. They don't get really… multicultural food often, seeing as we can't cook too well!"

The redhead quickly rolled her eyes, keeping her inner dialogue as inner as she could, and then put on a fake smile.

"Why thank you Capella! Your compliment is appreciated!" She smiled and began cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, which was nothing new.

"If you two don't mind," she started, "I think I'm going to go take a walk. I might go shopping for some new shoes. Mine are a little bit worn and I saw a cute pair at the boutique down the street yesterday!"

"Oh! Well since you'll be all by yourself, Kotori—" the redhead's attention was drawn to the rabbit-bunned, "—I was wondering if I could invite you over to dinner at my house tonight!"

What? That was out of the norm. She needed the time to scour over that letter more! As short as it was, Kotori _knew_ there was something fishy about it!

"I don't know if I can, Usa-chan… I have to help make dinner here."

"Aw it's okay, Kotori!" Capella said with a bright smile. "I have it taken care of! The fisherman downtown just caught the biggest load all season and he's putting his fish on sale. I'll take the kids down there to pick out a fish and some of the older ones can help me cook. Go on, have fun with ChibiUsa!"

With a sigh in her mind, Kotori knew it would be rude to deny the girl if her only excuse was shot down. She'd look at the letter when she got home. That way everyone would be asleep! Success!

"Okay, I don't see why not!" she relented. "What's your mother making for dinner?"

Hah! Dinner! Yeah, right! If there was going to be an impressive dinner of any sort at the Tsukino residence, it was only going to be because Makoto came over and made it. And then, there came ChibiUsa's idea. Makoto was going to be there!

"Hmm… I think we're having udon tonight! Or maybe yakisoba… I don't know, it's always a surprise with my mother!" she laughed. If Usagi ever felt like cooking, it was usually instant ramen.

"Anything for dessert?" Capella saw the mischievous smile on Kotori's face and smacked her on the head.

"Hey! It was nice enough of her to invite you over to her house, don't be picky!"

"Actually, dessert is our favorite part! My mom buys all kinds of ice creams, jellies, and mochi! You've gotta stay for that part!"

SOLD. Kotori ran to her room to pack her things. Sighing at how unsurprising this whole ordeal was, Capella returned to scrubbing the crusted pancake batter from the countertops.

* * *

"So Usa-chan, what grade are you entering this next school year?" 

"Eighth…" The hefty sigh ChibiUsa heaved was a little surprising for the redhead. Eighth grade was supposed to be the boy-year, so she thought. Kotori knew _she'd_ be having a field day.

"You don't sound enthused," she said.

"No… maybe I feel guilty… my best friend held herself back a year so we could go to school together. Or, maybe I just feel out of place I guess…"

"Out of place? Why do you say that?" Kotori asked, raising an eyebrow. Quickly, not realizing how she was just spewing her emotions everywhere, ChibiUsa put her hand over her mouth and laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I shouldn't be whining to you like this! I really am excited. I've heard so many neat things about eighth grade year and I don't know why I'm so like this! Ignore me, I'm just being weird!" Kotori merely shrugged.

"Okay."

"Did you like your eighth grade year?"

The question slightly startled the redhead. She never really thought about such things anymore, especially since she knew it was no use. She'd never remember what she wanted to.

"You're never gonna believe me, ChibiUsa, but I can't remember anything before my 10th grade year. I woke up one morning in the hospital, and the doctors said that my parents and I lived in a very dangerous part of Italy, and they were making a long trek to Japan for my safety when they ran us off of a mountain road with a semi." ChibiUsa gasped, not expecting such a response.

"So… you must've had amnesia, and… I'm guessing they… your parents, I mean, they must've…"

"Died? Yeah… it's too bad. Everything that could've gotten me things like money and security and a place with extended family was destroyed. Y'know, legal documents and whatnot. Capella was there at the hospital with me. Said she found me washed up on a lake she was camping by with a bad sunburn." To the young girl's surprise, Kotori chuckled a little bit. "It figures, doesn't it? It figures that things had to get trashed up for me right as I was really starting to be someone…"

"Why do you say that, Kotori?" ChibiUsa asked, tilting her head.

"I think about it all the time, and I realize that I was well on my way to adulthood. It's not like I lost everything when I was young. I have no idea what kind of a future I could've been building myself at that time… no idea. It's all gone," Kotori explained. "But oh well. What can I do about it now?" With a confident smile, ChibiUsa patted her friend on the shoulder, and continued walking.

Meanwhile, Rufus was finally where he wanted to be. All of this climbing and jumping and lurking… he was too big for this. No cat of his… _stature_ needed to be doing this. Regardless, after a challenging workout, he reached Kotori's windowsill, which he didn't remember being so high up earlier in the morning.

The room was empty. Perfect. And in the midst of Capella slamming the window shut, one pane slightly bounced back, leaving it ajar. If he were slimmer, it would be an easy fit inside. But no. If he were slimmer meant nothing in this situation. Sucking in all the weight he could, he slinked his way slowly and painfully through the crack of the windowpanes, and he would later tell someone to oil them in the near future. Nothing should be that difficult!

At long last, there he was, the mustard-yellow envelope right in front of him, the top still left open, and the letter peeking out just a little, teasing him with various kanji that the writer could draw _very_ well. Making haste, he pulled it the rest of the way out, and read over it.

What stumped him every time he looked at it was the fact that after the _Sincerely_, there was no name! Rufus stared long and hard at the bottom of the paper until something happened that scared him half to death. His forehead started to glow. The shiny gold circle shone a thin beam of light, revealing a hidden name.

_Kikeno Shigeo._

"Kikeno Shigeo?" he murmured aloud, tilting his head. That name didn't sound very familiar. Or did it? "Kikeno Shigeo…" He wracked his memory for something, anything. Queen Mau and her beautiful, stern face, and the lovely gold, red, and black gown she wore every day… he blushed, trying to move to a different subject… everything he knew about the Sun Kingdom – which wasn't much, Queen Mau's suitors, Queen Mau's guests… ah hah! An image came to his mind at last. "Kikeno Shigeo!"

Then, without warning, there was a bright eruption of light, and everything in the room was shaken by a faint wind. In the dissipation of the light, a tall, broad-shouldered man stood, cloaked in black.

"You called?"

His voice was slightly higher than what would suit him, and his earthy brown eyes locked patronizingly on the cat. Rufus merely tilted his head.

"Huh?"

"You said my name three times. That's the call," the man said. "My name is Shigeo, and you must be Rufus."

"How do you know who I am? I never said anything to anyone! Unless… you've been to Mau before! Yes! I remember you… you came to see our queen and then left because we didn't have one!"

"Well," Shigeo began, "she couldn't appoint anyone to guide the Sun Kingdom's princess. But now I see that she does, though it's a pity. They could have sent someone more qualified for the job."

"Hey! You just watch what I can do! I was sent for a reason!"

"You can't guide our princess if you don't know anything about her," Shigeo said smugly. "So let me fill you in…"

* * *

"MOOOMM I'M HOME!" 

After opening the door, ChibiUsa hung up the house key and saw her mom ambling around the kitchen in an apron, reading an old Sailor V manga. Typical.

"Welcome back, ChibiUsa! I have some good news I want to tell everyone tonight… so I hope you don't mind if they're all coming over!" Usagi said with a grin on her face, toying idly with her blonde pigtails. The daughter merely nodded, making way for Kotori to enter the home. Right away, the girl's golden green eyes were wide in marvel over the home. Usagi was quite the homemaker, it appeared. Photos of the family and friends and pets decorated the walls with scrap-book like appearance, and motherly knick-knacks lined shelves that were perfectly dusted. It seemed as though ChibiUsa's mother was the exact opposite of what she was always telling Kotori.

"Amazing..." she murmured.

"Oh, right... Mom, this is my friend Kotori from the orphanage. I was wondering if she could stay for dinner!" ChibiUsa perked, putting her hands together. "After all..." she mused, "you're always telling me that it's a good idea to make friends with people other than Hotaru..."

"It's true!" Usagi said defensively, putting her hands on her hips. "You're so reserved sometimes, you don't give other people the time of day! I'm glad you're finally getting out of your snobby little shell. Now," the mother turned to the redhead, who was immediately pensive. "My name is Usagi. ChibiUsa here is always telling me about her friends from the orphanage, but I don't believe I've heard of your name yet!"

"Taiyouno Kotori!"

The girl's pride outshone everything. That was good, Usagi thought. Sort of. The last thing her daughter needed was someone who was going to teach her how to put herself even _more_ above the general population. Regardless, Usagi put on her best smile.

"A beautiful name! Please, do call me by 'Usagi'. Anything else is too formal. We're friendly around here!"

Hours into the night, friends piled through the Tsukino Residence door, including ChibiUsa's father Mamoru; family friends Ami, Rei, Makoto who helped cook, Minako, and Hotaru; and animal friends - as weird of a term as Kotori believed it was - Luna, Artemis, and ChibiUsa's cat Diana. All sense of nutrition went out the door when Usagi and Makoto entered the kitchen - butter, a personal favorite of the redhead's, oil, and batter were put on just about everything, and it was a fried food fiesta. These people cooked to kill. Then, Kotori's curious mind sensed something was up when Rei and Minako started serving up a round of hot sake. She sensed it when Usagi politely passed up the offer, and any sensible, hard-working house wife was very open to social drinking.

So something had to be up. And she was right. Mamoru took a serving fork and lightly chimed it on his ceramic sake cup, catching everyone's attention with a slight _ding_. The laughing and casual chatter died down, and with sparkles in their eyes, Mamoru and Usagi looked themselves in the eyes before the husband cleared his throat.

"Usagi and I have an announcement to make," he said. "And we're very happy about it!"

_Obviously_. Kotori glanced over to her friend sitting by her silent comrade Hotaru, and neither of them were saying anything, though ChibiUsa had a look on her face that could give a heart attack. Watching her clench her fist, she fidgeted in the awkward silence. As a newbie to this group, she was feeling very out of place. Usagi bit her lip and smiled, and then said two words that lead to the biggest outbreak Kotori could have imagined.

"I'm pregnant!"

* * *


	5. Dream Tension

Lady's notes: Yaaay! I've had NOTHING to do ALL day but write this and sorta babysit. Sorta because I'm not really paying attention to them. Hehe they can handle themselves! And anyway, I'm having too much fun with this. I can't wait until it gets going and I can introduce some other characters, because I love the ones that I've made, especially Hoshiko and Yuki. But that probably won't be until later. Uhhh much later. Anyway, I want to thank the people who took the time to review this. It really means a lot to me in my quest to defend all of the Sailor Suns out there, lol. They aren't _all_ generic. Granted, most of them are, but as cliche as the concept is, a lot of people with sun senshi have spent a lot of time in making their backstory original and deserve credit for the justice that they've tried to do. I hope I can do justice to it as well.

In the name of the Sun, I will punish... err...

In the name of the Sun, _on with the ficcy_!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

Ch. 5

At first, everyone was happy, Minako running up to give Usagi a large, warm hug, the rest of the friends taking turns in doing the same… but something was brewing, and as the seconds ticked away, it was nearing explosion. Kotori saw the look on ChibiUsa's face that said it all. For moments, it looked like there was no one inside.

"Usa-chan… Usa-chan…!" Hotaru whispered to her, tapping her shoulder lightly. The girl didn't respond. The look on her face was horrid, and before anything else could happen, she let loose a maelstrom.

"How _dare_ you!"

Everyone gasped and was silent, looking into ChibiUsa's rusty red eyes as they bore tears. Usagi's breath was taken away.

"ChibiUsa! How could you--"

"You shut up!" the girl shouted, pointing to her father, who was taken aback immediately. Something bad was going to happen. Kotori wanted out, and she wanted out _fast_. Dessert no longer was an issue, and the fuming child was on a rampage.

"How dare you have another child! What, am I not good enough for you? Do I not fit in this time good enough for you?"

Usagi was speechless.

"B-but… ChibiUsa… I thought you'd…"

"What? You thought I'd be happy? I stayed here in the past with you because I thought you loved me like a daughter! I thought it's what you wanted! But I obviously don't belong here!"

What the _hell_? Drawing blanks, all the redhead could do was watch the girl storm out of the house, barely leaving time for Diana and Hotaru to follow her. Apparently, every family really _did_ have their secrets. She watched uncomfortably as Usagi ran into Mamoru's arms and burst into tears, her friends surrounding her for comfort. This was _definitely_ uncomfortable.

"Uh… um, congratulations, Usagi-san, Mamoru-san! I…" she stammered for a moment, putting her hand on the back of her head. "I… hope everything turns out well and have a healthy baby! Oh, and thanks for the food!" Departing with a wave, Kotori wasted no time in getting out of the Tsukino Residence. That group was odd. What was she thinking when she accepted ChibiUsa's invitation? She knew she had never belonged to any group, so why would it be any different this time around? And bad things tended to happen to her! If only she had thought up a few more excuses…

Capella! It was all her fault! Before Kotori could swear on behalf of her name, however, she passed the faint sound of ChibiUsa, Hotaru, and another young female voice down the corner. Knowing that it was probably a bad idea anyway, she turned down the next street to see what was going on.

"Usa-chan, please don't cry! Everything will be okay!" ChibiUsa sniffled and sobbed.

"No, Hotaru, I don't belong here! I should have gone back to the future and stayed there!"

"But then I would've been lonely! I would've missed you! You're my best friend…"

"Oh, Hotaru! I don't belong anywhere!" ChibiUsa cried, latching onto her dark-haired friend and wailing. The tiny gray cat nestled onto the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry," she said, the crescent moon reflecting a gleam of the girl's eyes, "everything will be alright. You know Usagi loves you!"

The cat was talking. It was right there. Talking. And everyone was fine with that. Talk, talk, talk. Talk, talk, talk. The cat was talking. Kotori was beginning to believe that she was just dreaming, and when she woke up, she would find it to be about twelve in the afternoon and was going to be perfectly okay with Capella yelling at her. Cats don't talk. But, going along with it, realizing it was all just a dream, Kotori approached them.

"ChibiUsa! There you are! What's the matter?" she asked, shrugging. "Do you not like the idea of having a baby sister?"

The three of them - ChibiUsa, Hotaru, and Diana - all gave each other doomed looks, knowing that it was too late to form a lie, now that Kotori had heard ChibiUsa wasn't from this time period. The girl figured she needed someone else to pour her heart out to, anyway… someone who _wasn't_ one of the family regulars. It would be a little secret.

"I… it's not that, Kotori…" she answered, wiping away a tear. "It's just that… well, sit down on the grass with us. I'll tell you about me… _all_ about me."

It was all so… unexpected. But at the same time, Kotori felt a little closer to her pink-haired friend, knowing that her self-history was as messed up as hers. Worse, she should note. She was still a little vague, but dreams sometimes were that way. The girl was from the future, and because her mother was endangering herself in the past to a point she might not be born, ChibiUsa had to go and help things move along in the right direction. A little later on down the road, after things were taken care of, she left to go back home, but because Usagi kept getting herself in trouble, she came back to help, _again_, deciding that she'd stay for good because it seemed as though everyone cared for her so much.

"Here's what I've gathered," Kotori said, clearing her throat once ChibiUsa had gotten out her long-winded explanation. "It seems to me like your mother is a very motherly person. Like she's always dreamed of being one and having a child and raising it as her own."

"Yeah, well she's raised me!"

"It's different though. She didn't get to be pregnant with you. She didn't get the joy of carrying you around in her baby-hole for nine months, the pride of knowing that she did it herself and took care of you and bared all the hardships that a pregnant woman does, or the happiness and sorrows of giving birth and raising you from an infant." ChibiUsa's sobbing quelled as she contemplated Kotori's words.

"She's right. Usagi still looks you in the eyes and sees you as her own, but she wants to experience a child from the beginning," Hotaru added.

"And maybe she just wants a bigger family!" Diana chimed in, gently licking the side of ChibiUsa's face before gasping. "Oops! I mean… meow!"

"Don't sweat it!" Kotori said, waving her hand and smirking. "I totally saw it coming. Talking animals. _Totally_ saw it coming. I am not alarmed!" There was a still silence.

"You think this is a joke, don't you?"

Kotori looked at Hotaru, who didn't seemed pleased with the redhead's reaction. What was the big deal? Shouldn't they be happy that she was willing to accept their weird lifestyle? She knew magic was real in dreams!

"I'm just really hard to shock, that's all. I adapt well!" she said with a chuckle. Hotaru was still in disbelief. "Well, it's getting late. I should probably be getting back to the orphanage. I'm sure your mother doesn't mean any harm, Usa-chan, and I hope you guys talk it out. Come talk to me tomorrow and tell me how it worked out, okay?" The girls watched her as she stood and dusted the grass bits from her denim skirt and started walking off.

"… bye Kotori."

* * *

Capella had passed out on the couch in the orphanage playroom, kids and dirty plates piled up around her. The TV was still murmuring on late into the night, with some news anchorwoman broad going on about some impending doom in some random part of Japan. Kotori ignored it, as it was usually a politician's work. She'd leave Capella and the kids alone, but the least she could do to wrap up this dream was clean up a little bit, so she started picking up the dishes, trying not to fumble over any little bodies in the darkness of the room.

"_About the city earlier today were strange lights appearing in seemingly random areas. Tokyo saw lights at a movie theater, a grocery store, an empty alley, and a radio tower. If you have seen anymore of these strange, unexplainable lights, please contact the authorities immediately._"

"Oh, shut up news…"

Before long, the dishes were in the dishwasher, running quietly with a handful of soap washing away bits of sautéed fish. Kotori turned the television off with a scowl and threw a blanket over Capella, and then returned to her room for the night.

That was when she was greeted by a fat cat lying on her desk by the window. But hey, take it easy Kotori! It's only a dream! Don't be bothered by it or the shiny circle on it's head. After all, Diana had a moon just like it!

"Why hello there kitty!"

"Oh no! Who got to you first? Did that wretched blonde brat get to you first?" Rufus asked, his paws fidgeting around and his tail twitching.

"Who, Capella? Naw, I just figured you'd have something to say like Diana did!" Kotori said with a grin.

"…like Diana did?" Rufus echoed, tilting his head. "What other cat were you talking to?"

"Well y'see, there's this-"

"Never mind. My name is Rufus, and you're Kotori, right?"

"Yes sir! I really need to wake up… this dream is getting dull…"

"_Dream_?" Rufus exclaimed, now heated. "You think this is a dream? Kotori, I did not travel from a faraway planet to endure warp-lag and patronization from people I've never met before while in search of _you_ just to have _you_ tell me that you think this is some kind of dream!"

"Calm down!"

"No! You're going to hear me out, because I'm getting frustrated trying to chase down this princess that my queen so trusted me to find! I'm not going to let her down because _you_ think this is a dream!"

"You don't understand!" Kotori cried, waving her hands in front of her furiously. "You don't understand the crazy things I've just heard!"

"You don't understand the crazy things _I've_ just heard!" Rufus cried back. After a second of silence, there were two heavy sighs, and Kotori sat down on her bed, her head in her hands. Something weird was going on, and she felt her concept of the real world slipping away. Maybe it was like this before her amnesia! That's it! She was just being reintroduced to things that were commonplace!

"A friend of mine just told me she was from the future after we found out her mom was a preggo…" Kotori murmured. "I'm not up to believing that it's all just a joke, either, because the entire family and their friends treat the fact like it's the real deal. And her cat was holding a conversation with me! How am I supposed to take that?"

Rufus began to mope and hung his head low, flopping down on the desk in defeat at last. It felt good to lay down, but that didn't change how he felt at all. Things were still a disaster.

"Now what's wrong with you?" Kotori asked, rolling her eyes.

"I wanted to be the cat you talked to that invoked this reaction in you! This isn't fair…"

"_Why are cats talking to me_?" the redhead shouted, bolting up and yanking on tufts of her hair. "_Why_?" The poor girl paced the room a few times and then pounded her head on the desk, right beside Rufus.

"I've been looking for you, Kotori. I wanted to tell you that you're a princess. Doesn't that excite you?" he asked sadly, looking up at her. Instantly, she froze, her jaw very slowly opening and hanging open further and further. And then, the corners of her mouth turned up just a bit. A princess?

"Wait… you're telling me that _I'm_ a princess?" she asked, standing up straight. Rufus nodded. "Me?" she asked again, pointing to herself. The cat nodded once more. "And this isn't a dream?" He shook his head. "Well why the hell didn't anyone bother to tell me before? Capella knew about this, didn't she? That's what that letter was about, wasn't it?"

"Actually, yes. I didn't think you'd catch on that quick."

"Who the hell does she think she is, keeping this information from me? Is she _jealous_ or something?" Kotori went on, angrily pacing about her room again. The cat's tail became slightly puffed. This situation was getting dangerous. "I mean it! Who does she think she is?"

"Well… I actually think she's a--"

"A rotten witch! I understand that witches can be very pleasant people, but she isn't one of those! She's a horrible person who has been posing to be my friend this entire time! _Ugh_!" Breathing heavily and clenching her fists, Kotori did everything within her to not throw a temper tantrum. Memories were flooding through her head at an incredible rate, the ones where she and Capella were at theme parks with the kids, or crying over lost boyfriends, or just enjoying a girl night eating chocolate cake and watching sappy movies. "Let me see that letter she got!" Rufus immediately got to his feet, the fur on his back almost standing on end.

"U-uh I can't let you…" he stammered, backing up. "It isn't a good idea."

"And why the hell not?"

"Well… just wait a few days and you'll find out, okay?"

At first, it didn't seem that Kotori was okay with this, but before long, she sat down on her bed and let a tired moan leave her body, and almost looked ready to cry. Rufus could sympathize with her. A little. But now his biggest decision of yet came: tell her now, or tell her later?

"Kotori… can I ask you a question?"

"No."

Later. Rufus grumbled and curled up on the desk again, his whiskers twitching in annoyance.

"… Where did I come from?"

Never mind, he'd be telling her now. He figured it was better this way. The sooner he told her, the sooner he could get her back where she belonged. Everything about her - her face, her clothes, her attitude - told him that she didn't belong here, and that she felt the same way.

"You came from the sun of this solar system. You're a major part of everyone's lives there, and they all miss you very much."

"Are you from the sun?"

"No. But someone who is wants to see you."

The girl didn't stay awake for very much longer. Her eyes grew very weary, and Rufus watched them slowly close. She slumped over, grabbed her white comforter, and drifted off into sleep. He only wished there was more for her that he could do. This girl was someone special. And it didn't take Shigeo's words to tell him, either… he could see it. As long as Capella didn't see the letter, he would come and pay Kotori a very special visit in two more days.

Suddenly, a faint orb of light appeared at the feline's side, and a familiar, rich, melodic voice spoke to him.

"Rufus, you're doing a better job than you think." He smiled. Queen Mau was always going to be there for him, because though she was dead, her spirit now lingered more strongly than it ever had before. Things were going to be okay.

* * *

Note: Sorry for the lack of action... I was hoping that the family tension would make up for that, hehe...


	6. The Gift Basket

Lady's notes: First thing is first - I want to thank the people who have been giving me constructive criticism. :3 Really it's only been two people, but it has been a kind help nonetheless, and I'm trying to make use of it. It means a lot to me when people will take the time to both constructively critique _kindly_ and tell me what they liked, too. So I'm trying to do the same and pass my constructive criticism along. If anyone would like critique from me, catch my attention in a review or send me an FF pm and I will see what I can do!

Right now my main concern is character development, so if you review this time around (which I'm hoping you do, hehe), please tell me which character you like and why, and which character might need a little work. I'm guessing Capella needs a little bit of work since right now she doesn't have much background introduced. So, in the name of the sun, on with the ficcy!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

Ch. 6

A distant sun rose into the honey-colored morning sky, illuminating the clouds as though they were streams of orange in a land of tangy lemon sherbet looming above. The white orb peeked into Kotori's window, a warm patch of light hanging over her and the sleeping form of Rufus curled at her side. It had been a long night, and the both of them hadn't stirred one bit in their sleep. The redhead's gold-green eyes opened first, comforted by the cat's presence. They inspected his dirty fur, which wasn't so much black as a very dark gray, with very faint lighter gray tabby markings that wouldn't have been visible from any farther away. His mother must've been a white and gray tabby. She smiled, thinking about his family.

Then, his gold-green eyes opened, thrilled to see a patch of sunlight. Stretching as far as he could without having to actually get to his feet, Rufus yawned and sighed in delight. The sun was so nice.

"So it really was real," Kotori murmured, looking at him. Startled by her voice, he turned to her, looking at a face that was slightly puffy as though she had been crying in her sleep. Great… that was the last thing he wanted to do. Make her cry.

"Yeah. It's real. How are you feeling?" he asked. Kotori didn't look ready to answer, and she yearned for the right words to use. How could she describe the way she was feeling? Calm? Enlightened kinda? Understanding? Tired? Blah? Blah! Blah was the word.

"Blah."

Suddenly, the sound of the door handle rattled, and Rufus dove into a pile of clothes as Capella entered the room. Needless to say, she was quite shocked to see her friend was awake.

"Good morning, Kotori," she said quietly. There was something in the redhead's aura that didn't feel normal. Capella made a point to keep her distance. The girl almost looked sad, but… she couldn't put her finger on it. "I wanted to thank you for cleaning up last night."

"It wasn't a problem. I'm sorry I came home late," Kotori answered, stretching and yawning. "The sun looks nice this morning." For a moment, Capella was silent, and then stared into the sky.

"It does."

"It's just a shame that the sky will only stay that way for a few moments… the colors in the morning are so pretty…"

"Kotori," the blonde began, biting her lip, "is there something wrong?"

Before answering, she thought about all the excuses she could make. She thought about all of the things Capella would and wouldn't believe, and then she thought of what really happened last night. ChibiUsa and her family and her past and future ordeals, and Rufus and her own past and future ordeals, and all the secrets…

"No, not at all." She smiled, buying Capella's reassurance. "I feel very well, actually. Well rested. I slept great."

"Well, alright then. It's just past nine, and I made the kids some breakfast. Just some toast and cereal. There's a little bit left if you want some."

With that, Capella left, going back to the orphanage playroom where she'd be for the majority of the day. Breakfast. What did Kotori want with that? The day felt like it would be very dull. She didn't feel like doing a damn thing.

"You should start the day with breakfast, you know," came Rufus's voice as he found his way out of Kotori's clean and or dirty laundry. "You've had a lot to think about. It isn't good for you to not have any brain food. You'll get sick!"

"I think getting sick is just what I need," Kotori said, making way to the bathroom. "Someone to pamper me and take care of me, and nurse me back to health… oh Rufus, that's all I want…" He would give her the sympathy she needed, but he didn't know how. Sighing, he listened to the bathroom door close, the shower curtain's rungs slide down the rail, the water start for a shower, and the shower curtain's rungs sliding back down again.

Ah hah! He knew what would make her feel better! After what happened last night, she'd be taking a long shower to relax and think, so he had plenty of time. Well, if he could get his fat ass where he wanted to be in time.

Wasting as little time as he could, Rufus pawed open the window and bounded outside, barely landing on a dew-covered rooftop nearby. Hopefully he would lose some weight while on Earth. His gold-green eyes scoured the small cul-de-sac that Ichiban Taiyou and a few other buildings shared, looking for an alley that was close, but far away enough from the orphanage where he could talk to a very important someone without other important someones seeing. On one side of the orphanage was a second-rate telephone company that seemed to be going out of business, and on the other was a used book store, which also didn't see many customers. Between the phone company and the orphanage was the alley in which the feline woke the day before, and then another street opened up, and a building for lease was on the corner. There had to be a nice empty place by there somewhere.

Rufus made a beeline for it, his large stomach wobbling to and fro as he sprinted across the slightly damp asphalt, his white-socked paws feeling the roughness of the old street. When he got to the alley behind the empty building, he could see right away that everything was closed shut. But… he wasn't just _any_ cat, he had come to realize. He had to be able to do something cool to get in.

"Okay Queen Mau," he mumbled, closing his eyes, "please tell me that I can do something cool…"

From the thin gold circle on his forehead, a beam of light projected into the air, forming a single key in its ray. It was gold, and the handle was shaped like that of a feline head, with ears and whiskers, and two emeralds for the eyes.

"Hey, hey! Alright! I really _am _getting the hang of this thing, I guess!"

He held the key in his mouth, and scoured the area for a backdoor of some sort. There were a few, but only one suited his liking. It was very plain, just a white door with a simple lock on it. He needed something simple to test this key out, anyway. Using his large frame, Rufus moved a few crates together to get some more height, and clenching his jaw tightly on the key's handle, he jammed it in the door's lock.

With a faint, magical yellow aura, the key's grooves fit perfectly to push all the lock's pins the right way, and the door opened. Rufus was nearly bathing in success as he pawed at the door handle and walked inside the complex.

About the complex. There was something… eerie about it, and Rufus wasn't sure if it was supposed to be that way. White curtains hung absolutely everywhere, and when he entered, a faint breeze danced with them, fluttering them in the air. Rufus didn't like things that looked ghost-like. He didn't like them at all. Something was off about this building.

"Oh well… better get on with the plan," he said. "Kikeno Shigeo, Kikeno Shigeo, Kikeno Shigeo!"

In a flash of light, as if there hadn't been enough of those already, the cloaked man appeared, his earthy brown eyes cynical as usual. In black, he was a dangerous contrast to the white curtains lashing out on the walls. Scowling, he surveyed the setting.

"Why did you call?" he asked, clenching his fists pensively. It was almost as if… he was _nervous_. Perhaps the building wasn't the best of meeting places, Rufus thought.

"Well I was wondering if you could play the part of a civilian for me today!" the cat said brightly. "There were a few things that I wanted to do, but most people wouldn't take too kindly to a talking cat going shopping."

"You want me to go _shopping_?"

"Well, it's for Kotori! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Rufus asked. Shigeo sighed, defeated by the feline. His usual demeanor was being ruined, and pretty soon, his reputation as dark and mysterious would be, too. He pulled off his black hood, revealing very nicely styled brown hair that was short and spiky, but _nicely_ spiked. He didn't look like some teenage hoodlum punk-wannabe. He almost looked professional, and without the hood, his goatee no longer looked scruffy. Then, his cloak flashed a golden yellow color for just a moment, and then turned into yet another surprise.

Shigeo was standing before Rufus in nice civilian clothes - a black, long sleeved button up shirt, and dark blue jeans. Nothing otherworldly except his good looks about him, now.

"If I weren't a male, I'd say you were beautiful." Shigeo smirked, pulling down on his shirt a bit.

"I always get the feeling that this thing is too small for me…"

"Well you are like eight feet tall. I'd feel the same way!" Rolling his eyes, Shigeo sighed, putting his hand to his forehead. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

"I'm not quite _eight feet tall_."

"Sarcasm, Shigeo. You seem like you should know the game pretty well."

Their banter went on for a little while, the man giving out his actual height with insecurities, Rufus laughing about how no man four inches past six feet should feel insecure, Shigeo complaining about how husky he was, Rufus reassuring him that if _he_ were human, it'd be much more embarrassing, and the like. In fact, it wasn't until ten minutes later when Rufus had realized how much time he wasted in silly talk. Kotori would be out of the shower soon, and he had a surprise he wanted to give her.

"Well let's knock this off," he said. "I need you to go to this high-end dessert store and get Kotori a box of mochi. Then we're going to wrap it up nicely and put it in a gift basket with a stuffed animal and… how about a necklace! Yeah!"

"With what? Money?"

Rufus's eager smile fell into a prominent frown. So much for his plan. And then, realizing he had had enough fun being a smartass, Shigeo pulled a credit card from his back pocket.

"I was lucky to acquire this, you know. It's for _emergencies_, and I'm not counting this as one of those, so you owe me one, cat."

A lot of questions were going to be asked later, Rufus thought. If he had a credit card, he must already have a civilian disguise. He had no idea the man already had a seemingly established life on Earth. But what he learned today was nothing. Tomorrow was going to be a _real_ information field day.

* * *

**o ... .O. ... o**

* * *

"Kotori! Kotori, you've got to hear this!"

Capella's voice coming through the bathroom door made the redhead grumble. It was her peace time in the shower, and no one had the right to bother her!

"… _What_…?"

"The news! There's something on the news and I think you should know about it!" Kotori glowered at the thought. Looked like her shower was coming to an end. Quickly, she rinsed off the honeysuckle scented suds on her body and the conditioner in her hair. Within a few minutes she was giving Capella a cranky stare in the bathroom hallway.

"What's so special about the news that I had to get out of the shower for?" she asked, folding her arms. Capella tried not to bark back. Her friend was in a bad mood, and she'd perhaps ask later.

"There are these people around the city that the authorities are after… they say that the charges aren't being released to the public, but one of those people looks just like the orphanage master!" At this news, Kotori raised an eyebrow. The anchorwoman's report about the strange lights from last night's news also came to mind.

"Hm. Peculiar."

"That's all you've got to say?"

"Well," the redhead began, crudely cleaning out her ears with her pinkies, "what do you expect me to do about it? We _could_ report Fudaya-san to the authorities, and mess up everything for this orphanage and the children in it, or we could shut up about it and act like nothing ever happened, and be happy with our lives just the way they are!" This time, Capella folded her arms, leaning back on her hip a bit. Her frown didn't budge Kotori one bit.

"You know, you really disappoint me. I expected a little more sincerity out of you." Her words didn't budge the girl, either.

"Don't you talk to _me_ about sincerity, Capella. I suggest you analyze yourself before you start judging another's personality and opinions." With that, Kotori turned away into her bedroom and slammed the door. Who did Capella think she was, anyway? Was she the only one who cared about the well being of the children, as cheesy as it sounded? She was having a hard enough time embracing every other change around her, the last thing she needed was her only home being uprooted and thrown into investigation by nosy, know-it-all authorities! How _dare_--

Sitting on her desk by the window was a little white wicker gift basket, with lacy yellow tissue paper sticking up around all of the gifts that were stuffed inside. Beside it was Rufus, beaming proudly. However, to his dismay, Kotori broke down into tears at that very second, falling to her knees.

"Aw Kotori! What is it? What did I do?" he asked, jumping off the desk. Suddenly, she picked him up and squeezed him close to her, sobbing and sniffling.

"Thankyousomuch," she blurted. "Whyarethingsso SUCKY? You're the only onewhocares!"

"Aaaakk!"

It took a while, but getting a quick grip of herself, Kotori set her feline companion down and hiccupped. He appeared quite shaken.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping away a tear. "I just… this is kind of hard to swallow, you know? I'm not very good with changes."

"Well that's why I wanted to cheer you up!" Rufus said, hopping up on the desk again, nudging the gift basket closer. "The Sun Princess can't be all tears and frowns, now can she?" Sniffling, Kotori reached for the basket, but what happened sort of shocked the cat. Rather than reach for one of the goodies inside, she took out a handful of the tissue paper, and rather unceremoniously blew her nose. Loudly.

Moving on, she pulled out a stuffed cat that slightly resembled Rufus, and a weak smile appeared on her face.

"It's for when I'm not here… you know, in case I have to go somewhere. I, uh… don't know why that might be, but you never know," he explained. At last, a chuckle from Kotori. She placed the stuffed animal on her mattress, and then went for the box of mochi, which _really_ put a smile on her face.

"Oh my God! I've never seen so many flavors! This is awesome!" she cried, examining the package from every angle possible. "You have no idea how cool this is… I've always wanted to be pampered! And this is definitely going in the right direction! _Peanut butter mochi_? That's so cool!" It was nice to see her happy. He had only seen the laconic and surly sides of her. "Tell you what! Tonight when everyone's asleep, I'll open these and we can pig out on them! Just you and me!"

"Really? You mean you aren't going to share with the children?"

"Naah, I'll make it up to them later!"

Suddenly, Kotori lost her breath. Her eyes had set themselves upon the last gift in Rufus's basket, and it laid in a clear ring-box in the center of a tuft of lace tissue paper. It took her a few moments to take it out of the box, her awe getting the best of her.

It was a necklace. A small locket, to be exact. Made out of gold, shaped like a circle, rimmed in a glittering golden opalescent material. Delicately, Kotori's fingers pried the locket open, to see a picture of a tall tower made out of light shining in the foreground, with a black, star-clustered backdrop behind it. There was something in the back of her mind - a memory, perhaps - that wanted desperately to come to the surface as she gazed into the picture, but something kept it locked away.

"This is beautiful… are you sure it's for me?" Kotori asked in disbelief.

"Of course it's for you!" Rufus laughed. "I didn't get it for myself, that's for sure!" Careful with the clasps, the redhead fastened the necklace so that it dangled a few inches below her collarbone. She had never dreamed of having such a nice piece of jewelry.

Rufus was glad that the girl was pleased. Shigeo had done a good job picking out the necklace. He seemed to know exactly what Kotori would like.

"Is this my home?" she asked, referring to the picture in the locket. She had returned to staring at it.

"Yup. It's the Hyperion Tower. That's where your mother resides," Rufus answered. "Waiting for you."

"What's my mother's name?"

The cat wracked his brain for the answers Shigeo had given him yesterday. He couldn't let him down by not knowing Kotori, and he couldn't let Kotori down by not having the answers she needed. But Queen Mau would be the most disappointed in him if he couldn't do this one simple task. The name… it was sun… sol… sol…

"I think her name is Solennia. You'll love it there, I heard the sun is a very pretty place!"

Kotori smiled, a warmth inside of her. At last, she knew who her mother was. Kinda. A name was something, wasn't it?

Then, suddenly, there came a scream from Capella.

* * *

I know, cheesy scene-breaker, but Qantas was right when she said that the simple line wasn't good enough. xD I'm still working on something that's... suitable. 


	7. Revelation, part I

Lady's notes: Okay, I know it's not good for me to be churning out chapters so fast, but I guess maybe it's like a stress thing for me. I get stressed and I put them out constantly, hehe. I'll try to pace myself better, but I really wanted to get this chapter out today when I finished it. Sooo I hope you don't mind its length and the fact it is a major cliffhanger into the second part, and probably the juiciest, chapter 8. I'm making it out to be like it's some scandalous star, hehe. Ooh, and I tried extra hard to work on Capella in this chapter! I hope I did well! Especially since I kinda had a little trouble with this... I dunno why. I spent a long time thinking about it... maybe too much time... hrm...

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

Ch. 7

It was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Capella was in utter disbelief of what she was seeing on the television screen, and the other children were beginning to give her odd looks. Onscreen, a band of what appeared to be possessed police officers were running rampant down the streets of Tokyo. A familiar black aura surrounded them. One that Capella knew all too well. All this time, she had been hoping it wouldn't come down to this… and then, she realized she had let out an ear-piercing scream.

"O-oh… uh… I have to go… um, take care of some lady issues, kids!" she quickly told the children. They all were going to question, but the last thing they heard as the blonde went flying out the door was, "Kotori's in charge!" So, naturally, when the redhead emerged from the hallway, they bombarded her with "I want this" and "I want that".

Capella didn't care what the kids wanted then. She had a job to do, one that she had hoped she would never have to do. Recalling the television scene, the police officers had been just shy of the Hikawa Shrine. There was no way she'd get there in time on foot.

How much money did she have? In the back pocket of her skirt was just enough for a one-way bus fare, and right on the next corner, one bright colored bus that hadn't yet been freed from the clutches of graffiti was pulling up. The blonde ran faster than she had in a long, _long_ time.

In fact, the last time she had run so fast was… years ago, on the Sun Kingdom, she believed. Something terrible was eclipsing what little light they saw from the sky, casting a strange shadow… it was completely unnatural. An astronomical phenomena that couldn't just happen on its own. Everyone that couldn't run fast enough to keep just beyond the shade was swallowed into a realm in which they never returned from.

Tinia. Capella did what she could to wipe the memory of her fallen husband clear of her mind. She told herself she would forever be strong. It was that very day, the one in which Tinia had fallen, and her and Kotori were running to save their own lives, that she had sworn to find the answers to what plagued the Sun Kingdom. Unfortunately, it looked like the answers were coming to _her_. On Earth. Where she figured her and Kotori would be safe.

There was no way evil would get what it wanted! She'd be damned if it went any other way! Pushing through lines of people waiting to use public transportation, Capella loaded herself on the bus, hoping that its route would land her in a convenient spot. The last thing she needed was a long walk that got her lost. But, hope usually sufficed in most cases. She was unwilling to believe that hope was the key to disappointment.

The bus ride seemed to take forever, granted the Hikawa Shine was nearly 15 miles away. It would take her all day to get back home if she couldn't scrounge up some more change for another ticket back. More things came to Capella's mind as the wheels kept turning. Her duty to protect Kotori was being endangered. Antagonism was going to _mark her words_ - there would be no compromise to her duties. None what-so-ever. That feline in the window the other day from Mau, not even _he_ would do anything about it! She'd hold an iron fist to anyone else, because there was no way in hell she was going to be letting anyone down.

At long last, the bus came to its third stop, the blonde being the only one departing. Hikawa Shrine seemed to be just a few blocks away, which put her extremely close to the action. She could feel it in her bones already. Around her, sects of the road were blocked off, and the authorities were clearing the way and preparing to bring in some forces to take care of the job.

There wouldn't be any need, Capella thought. She'd take care of the whole thing herself! Quickly finding an empty space behind a child's toy store, Capella took out something she thought she'd never have to use again. A wand, no bigger than a pen, that was collapsible to fit in a small pocket. It was all the colors of the morning sky, swirling with a slow energy that hadn't been used in ages. At the tip was a golden four-pointed star, reflecting the glimmer of her watering eyes. Clatter and shouting from the possessed enemies was in the distance.

"Well… here goes nothing," she whispered, fighting back a remorseful tear. Things were changing. Nothing was going to be the same after this. "_Starbright E_--"

"In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

In all of holy hell, nothing had scared Capella out of her skin so much as the voice of a little girl claiming to be Sailor Moon right as she was about to reveal a self that had been hidden from her for years. She could've sworn she had gasped louder than what her voice box had ever planned on doing.

"Hahahaha! You pitiful pink sprite!"

Capella poked her head around the corner to see the action. A pink-haired and pink-clad girl stood against four officers, all teeming with an energy that was making the blonde cringe. Now, as a lot of senshi were built with an intuitional "senshi-dar", Capella's particularly strong, this certain Sailor Moon was screaming ChibiUsa. She never would have guessed.

"What am I supposed to do now?" the blonde whispered, knowing that Sailor Moon would no doubt recognize her. She had heard stories about the original, and every generation gets smarter, so they say. Then, the leader of the officers made another shout.

"No fragile senshi is going to stop us! We have a goal!"

"Destroy the sun!"

"Total blackout!"

As the others yelled and added to the commotion, the pink-haired girl only got more and more confused.

"The sun?" she murmured. "Why… the sun?" Indeed, Capella thought, why the sun?

"Because the sun has more power than the Earth or any of this system's feeble planets! We will take every star, every nebula, every light that's in the sky!" She had heard enough.

"Well, I don't know who _you_ are, but I am Neo Sailor Moon! The new soldier wielding the power of the silver moon to punish evil like you!"

_Neo_ Sailor Moon? Hopefully she had enough tricks up her sleeve to take care of things. Suddenly, the worst that could've happened… did.

The officers realized that they had guns in their holsters. Capella didn't think ChibiUsa's red eyes could get so big, and only hoped that the healing power of the moon was as great as it was cracked up to be.

"Listen, moon twit," the leader of the officers said, pointing a .9mm at the girl, "you either surrender to the Dark Matter Confederation, or you die." Expecting to see her mortified, Capella was surprised to see that Neo Sailor Moon actually threw herself back together and was seemingly fearless. Perhaps she had been held at gunpoint before...? Did she have a plan, or was she just dumb? Surely she wasn't going to use that ridiculous "Pink Sugar Heart Attack" that Capella had heard stories about in the past…

"I have a better idea," she said, taking out an old crescent moon wand. "You figure out how to work that safety lock, and I'll do my thing! _Moon Healing Escalation_!"

This moon senshi was extremely skilled, and knew her stuff damn straight. Apparently, she knew how to handle a situation all on her own. Capella was relieved that it had been handled. For now, at least. She would take every measure that she could to keep things under wraps for Kotori. With that in her heart and the Dark Matter Confederation on her mind, Capella started on her trek back home.

Meanwhile, as the sun was dwindling in the sky at 3 o'clock, a chill breeze lingered in the cul-de-sac, lifting Tomoe Hotaru's short hair off her shoulders. Kotori needed to know how ChibiUsa was doing after last night, and since her friend was slightly… distracted, she decided to take it into her own hands. Approaching the front door to Ichiban Taiyou, she found herself 'sweating-bullets' nervous. She wasn't used to coming out of her shell. However conflicted with her decision, Hotaru gently rapped her tiny fist on the door, and within seconds, a grimy little boy pried it open, instant ramen spilled all down the front of his shirt.

"Hi!"

"Uh… h-hello… is Kotori there?"

"HIROKI!"

Hearing the redhead's voice booming down the hallway, the little boy scurried off. Kotori then came to the door with a sigh of exasperation. Capella was so selfish, just leaving her there with all of these kids! None of them really liked to listen to her, and the other broads who were in charge of the place got all of the _well behaved_ children to take care of.

"Hey there Hotaru!" she said, ignoring her inner dialogue. "How are you today?" The meek girl explained briefly of some chores ChibiUsa had to do, and how she doubted that she'd have the time to come talk to her, and Hotaru knew that her best friend wouldn't want Kotori to worry.

"So… I wanted to talk to you about her. And last night. She's very grateful for everything you said to her."

"I'm just glad that I could help. To be honest, Hotaru, I didn't know I could even talk like that. Here, why don't you come in?" Kotori said, ushering the girl inside. It was odd… she was someone that Kotori didn't even know on the surface, though this was only the second time she had even seen ChibiUsa's best friend. She had always known jealousy and rivalry when she had friends at the orphanage, and she was surprised Hotaru wasn't the same way. Kotori was always bent on being the _only_ best friend.

Though, Capella always made a point in ruining each and every friendship.

Ignoring another stretch of inner dialogue, Kotori found the small girl a seat that wasn't infested with children and ran to the kitchen to nuke some chocolate milk. It was still _technically_ hot chocolate, after all… though when she came back, she saw that every single child that had been in the playroom with Hotaru left.

"Here you are!"

"Thankyou, I don't get hot chocolate very often…" Hotaru answered, blowing on the top of her mug, watching the surface of the beverage ripple. Kotori grinned.

"Well, it's one of the few things I can make on my own. Anyway… I wanted to say that I don't exactly know what came over me last night. I mean… I do, but--"

"You just don't know where it came from?" Hotaru asked. The redhead nodded. They sat silently for a few moments, taking everything in including a few sips of the hot chocolate that Kotori so loved. She only wished she had whipped cream and some chocolate sauce to drizzle over it. Ahh… one of the many things she loved besides mochi that was going to be the doom of her enamel one day.

"You'll find out," Hotaru said, smiling. "You'll probably find out that deep down inside, you're a perfect mother yourself. I think you would be."

o ... .O. ... o

It was getting a tad dark outside, and Rufus could see overcast looming in the distance, and he knew that by morning, the fall clouds would envelop the sky. But he couldn't very well pee inside just because it was a little nippy! He couldn't be as high maintenance as he wanted, especially with the lack of luxury Kotori lived with. So, taking the scenic route to his 'call of nature' territory, he took in the sights of Tokyo's evening life.

The 'call of nature' territory was at least a mile or two away from the dingy cul-de-sac, and he saw a wide range of things on the short walk. Police officers, reporters, ambulances, patrol cars, detour signs and caution tape. For someone, it had been a busy day. He kept hearing something through the clamor… there was much speak of a Neo Sailor Moon, but something was more striking… something he could have sworn Shigeo told him about.

Oh well, he couldn't be bothered with it now. He came upon his 'call of nature' territory, which was a quaint and very ignored section of a playground. The main feature of this ignored section was an old sun-warped see-saw. After he neatly covered up his evidence, Rufus made his way back to the orphanage, wondering if there was some way he could speed up time so everyone would get to sleep already. He was anxious about trying those mochi with Kotori!

Suddenly, someone called out to him. A voice strikingly familiar.

"Rufus!"

It was very light and lyrical, but there was a familiar bite to it. A teasing, perhaps coy bite. There was no way he could mistake _that_ voice.

"Merope!"

The cat looked up to see another feline staring down at him from a fence top. Unlike his eyes, hers were a cold steely color, and her fur was a dark shade of blue, almost an Abyssinian shade like the night, and her tail was just a short, puffy bob. He didn't notice those first, however. He noticed the black and silver star on her forehead. Which meant only one thing.

"Merope, you're a guardian! I never expected to see you again!" Rufus said, out of breath. His grin was bigger than it had been in a long time.

"I know!" the other cat said with a smirk. "Who would have thought that two childhood friends would see each other again, hm?" She jumped down to meet him, a faint purr in her throat until she saw the symbol on _his_ forehead. "And just who are _you_ looking after?"

"No, no, you first!" Rufus said anxiously, almost jumping around. However, his weight restricted such excited actions. But at hearing his words, Merope was skeptical. She saw the symbol Rufus bore, and it naggingly wouldn't leave her eyesight.

"Ah, ah!" she laughed, playing it off. "I asked you first!" What harm could it be? Rufus thought, smiling. It had been so long since he'd seen Merope, as she left to be a guardian long ago. It would be fun catching up on old--

Wait. The large, bumbling feline back-tracked for a minute. There was something… off. If she wouldn't tell him what _she _was up to… maybe he shouldn't, either. He felt a Queen Mau moment coming on.

"Uhh, hello? Rufus?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, for crissake… I have to go," Merope then said, somewhat of a glare in her eyes. Rufus's jaw dropped in dread. "Perhaps we'll meet up again sometime."

"B-but… Merope! What did I--"

He stopped. It was no use, as her slinky form had disappeared into the night that she so matched. What a day. And he had only gone out to pee.

o ... .O. ... o

Capella and the feline made it home at nearly the same time, at two shakes of a moonrise. Fortunately, one used the front door and the other Kotori's window, and hopefully it isn't too hard to distinguish who did what. Rufus sat himself on the redhead's desk and began to clean himself, while Capella had an odd encounter. Fudaya-san, the "orphanage mother", had one of her rare outings from her office, often referred to as the recluse's "alcove". She wasn't the prettiest of people, not quite, but you could look in her general direction without being repulsed. She had an awful spare tire of skin around her waist, though, and brown hair that often enough looked to be matted. It was no wonder other women did all the caretaking; Fudaya would scare the children. On this night, most likely due to Capella's enormously high stress level, Fudaya's presence alarmed her.

"Fudaya-san! Good evening!" she said, her painfully long walk leaving her short of breath. The mother merely smiled, forming wrinkles at the corners of her mouth.

"Capella, dear… you know what I always ask you to call me!" The blonde's face reddened, slightly out of fear and slightly out of embarrassment. Fudaya always insisted that she be called by her first name.

"Natsuko. I'm sorry, I forget…"

"I wanted to talk to you about Kotori." Fudaya's bluntness worried her. She remembered how Kotori had shot her down earlier in the day when she told her the suspicions she had for the orphanage mother. "Don't you think it's time she left this place? Got out in the real world?"

A white-hot fury rose in Capella. Everything was against her! Every damn thing! There was no way in hell anyone was going to con her out of her duties! She was ready to throw her fist into the damn orphanage mother's face that very second, because Kotori would continue being sheltered, and if anyone was going to change that, it would be over her dead body.

"No." Almost as if she expected the response, Fudaya smirked and walked back into her office.

Time passed regularly after that, Kotori and Rufus hanging out in their room at a quarter past midnight pigging out on mochi and sharing awkward life experiences, fighting over the best flavors in the box, and revealing secret dreams. Never once, however, did Rufus reveal anything about Merope.

o ... .O. ... o

On that morning, the sun's pale early rays didn't shine and didn't cast their light upon Tokyo. Dark clouds had made their way and hung still, making sure everyone was aware that they were there to stay till it rained. The scent wasn't quite in the air, as the clouds had a few shades darker to turn until then, but it was bound to be a cold day.

A colder day when Shigeo's black cloak fluttered in the faint wind about him. A scarily determined look was in his eyes, and the few people who were out on the streets that day avoided him at all costs. He was a man who knew exactly where he was going, and no one wanted to deter him. Gauntness went hand in hand with him and the weather. He came straight to Ichiban Taiyou at 6 on the dot, no interruptions and nothing to sidetrack him. When he reached the door, his first instinct was to simply knock it down, but consequences considered, he knocked instead. His visit would cause an uproar as it was.

And that it did. Capella was always up at the crack of dawn, despite the fact that there was no real dawn this morning, and as soon as she saw his figure in the peep hole, she swung the door open with a fiery violence, although slow, like a lingering, painful violence.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Her eyes narrowed, as did his.

"I came to talk to Kotori."

"Over my goddamned dead body! You seem to have no problem doing it over Tinia's, you _bastard_!" Capella's voice rang, a fury that hadn't been in her since the last time she saw Shigeo on the tip of her tongue. "I'm not going to let you do the same thing twice!"

"_Capella_! How dare you think such a thing of me! I have a family of my own, and that's why I'm here! I did nothing to hold Tinia back - I tried to save him!" Shigeo said back, pointing a finger right before her eyes.

"Listen, you filthy piece of trash," the blonde sneered, pulling on his cloak collar, him then realizing how tall she was, "you know how I feel deep down inside about the Queen. You know that. You know _very_ well that I don't approve of a damned thing she does, but send me to hell if I can't keep her from dragging her daughter down with her!"

"I came," Shigeo breathed heavily, "to _stop _that!"

Suddenly, a very sleepy redhead emerged from her room, her hair wispy and tangled from a short sleep and wild mochi-eating. She stared blankly to the two warring figures in the doorway, and Shigeo's earthy brown eyes almost moved a wall in her mind. His heart nearly melted seeing her.

"Kotori!"

"_No_!"

* * *

At last we know Capella's motives! Gaspeth! 


	8. Revelation, part II

Lady's notes: Ooh, tough chapter. I'm serious, I worked a lot on this one and I still don't know if I like it. Eeesh... I spent too much time on it, probably. I know, I know, "you can't spend too much time _editing_!" Oh Lord, can you ever. But everyone that I had available to beta said that it was fine, but I dunno... I can't put my finger on this, but I'm not 100 percent happy with it... maybe I'm just beating myself up. You guys tell me what you think! And between the last chapter and this one, did I work enough on Capella to bring her character out more?

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

Ch. 8

"No Capella! I want to hear what he has to say!"

The blonde was shocked at Kotori's words. Sure, she seemed to be constantly defying her, but this was serious. The redhead never questioned Capella's judgment in serious matters; she knew what was good for her. This time, though… this time, Kotori could feel something inside of her that hadn't been there before. It was time to stop giving in.

"Excuse me?" Capella's glare was almost poisonous, as was her tone. Shigeo didn't like where this was going.

"You heard me!" Kotori shouted, standing as straight as she could. "This is _my_ business, and I can tell that you've been trying to stick your nose in it for an awful long time!"

"Your business _is_ my business!"

"What? Who the hell died and made you my damn mother?"

"Actually," the man stepped in, putting his hand up before the girls could escalate to violence, "I came here to tell you about that. Your mother, your home, everything." This was when Rufus, who hadn't put himself above eavesdropping, came out of Kotori's room, making eye contact steadily with Shigeo. He worried about Capella and needed some reassurance that the girl wouldn't pummel him. It was time, at last, though. These past few days had seemed to stretch on forever in anticipation for the man's arrival.

"We should go somewhere else for this," he said quietly, reminding them that they were in a house of sleeping children. "Perhaps where I contacted you, Shigeo?" The man recalled the meeting, and how much he hadn't appreciated the ghost-like appearance of it. However, there was no time to waste finding a new place.

"Hey! I didn't agree to any of this! No one is going anywhere!" Capella snapped, folding her arms. Then a scowl, nearly a grimace, came from Kotori that was so acidic, if the blonde hadn't have had a similar look, it would have eaten her away until there was nothing left. Narrowing her eyes, she spit her words out.

"You aren't making decisions for me anymore." Capella swallowed pensively. "I have a much more appealing life elsewhere that you knew of and _never had the courtesy to tell me about_!"

They didn't understand! No one understood! As Capella watched them - Shigeo, Kotori, and Rufus - leave the orphanage, tears welded up in her, and as the first scent of rain filled her lungs, they rolled down her cheeks.

"It's not like that!" she called after them, biting her lip. Kotori stopped to look back. "It's not! I only wanted to protect you! _You have no idea what it's like there_!"

Recalling a very striking allusion from a foreign literature class in school, Kotori found herself stuck between Scylla and Charybdis. An ancient myth in which the hero was traveling down a river, stopped because there was a great monster on either side of them. As the myth's plot went, she realized that no matter which way she went, whether it was with Shigeo or back to Capella, there was going to be hell to pay, and life as she knew it had already been ruined. But, who was to blame? She could point fingers at Capella until she was blue in the face. She could let her down. She could let down a talking cat and a man who had all the answers she ever wanted. She would let down Rufus, who had so quickly shown her how much he cared… if she went with him and this other man, she'd be a _princess_. She'd get everything she ever wanted. But, she'd break Capella's heart.

In all the movies, books, and television shows she had ever known, whenever the protagonist was faced with such a horrible choice, there was always someway to avoid picking one, and they could get around the subject altogether and put a big fat band-aid over the problem, sometimes with gauze, and live happily ever after. This wasn't like a movie, book, or show. The hard reality of the real world was settling into her.

"Give me a sign," she breathed into the air. Looking up into the gray clouds blanketing the sky, she wished for anything - a glimpse of the sun, a flock of birds… anything. What she got was a cold plink of water that fell right on her forehead. Oh! Great…

"Capella…" she started, her mind reaching for words, "I can't live like this anymore. I can't live only knowing a tiny fragment of who I am. Some people can, but… you know me. Don't you?" More tears cascaded down the blonde's face as she stood, watching the redhead and her reluctance to move forward or backward.

Maybe it was time. And then, she made a decision of her own and grabbed her jacket hanging on the wall, a small burst of rage going off inside of her.

"Goddamn…! I hate you Shigeo! You took Tinia away from me, but I won't let you take Kotori, too!" She jammed her arms into the jacket's sleeves and shut the door behind her, running to the redhead, her eyes full of tears. "You make me seem _horrible_! You make me seem like I'm the bad guy! I only wanted to keep her safe!"

"The Queen needs her!" Shigeo shouted, clenching his fist. "Her Kingdom needs her!"

"Even you know what the Queen is doing is wrong!"

"_STOP_!"

The quarreling two looked to Kotori, and the look she bore made guilt boil inside of them. Ultimately they were going to tear her apart if they didn't come to terms. Shigeo sighed. He knew what was going to happen when he told Kotori everything she deserved to know, and while he might get what he wanted back, the girl would change beyond all recognition. He figured Capella might have a reason to be angry with him…

"I…"

Insecurities washed over him like he was caught in an undertow. Sucking him down deeper and deeper. He threw his head into the palm of his hand before finally giving in.

"I'm sorry Capella."

The blonde folded her arms, leaning on her hip. She wasn't satisfied, and her tall, lean figure standing out in the middle of the cul-de-sac said defiantly so.

"Are you?"

"This is for the best. Kotori deserves to know. She can't keep making up scenarios about her past! I never wanted to make you look like the bad guy… and I never meant for anything to happen to Tinia that day. I'm sorry." Capella sighed deeply, and to Kotori and Rufus's shock, she slapped him with a fury she had been building up for years.

"Well let's get on with it. This isn't my revelation, it's Kotori's!"

Rufus began leading them in the direction of the building once more, a foggy feeling in his head. He wondered if anyone else could feel it. An odd energy was in the air, and it made his stomach lurch. And considering the size of his stomach, that was a lot of lurching. It began to sprinkle very, very faintly, almost covering the streets of Tokyo in a clear, gentle mist.

But the gentleness of it had to be a ruse. Merope's presence had made him uneasy the more he thought about it. She was here for a reason… and the only reason she wouldn't be able to tell him what it was would be because it was bad. Merope. He remembered the crush he had on her many years ago when they were just past kittens. Finally, they reached the desolate building, and Rufus called upon his key again.

"What's that? How'd you do it?" Kotori asked. He had been expecting it, since he himself had asked the same thing when it appeared.

"Here," he said, handing it out to her with his mouth. "I can make another one for myself. It's… the Rufus key."

"Brilliant. Did you make it up yourself?" He looked snidely to Capella and ignored her words, letting Kotori open the backdoor to their meeting place. The white, ghost-like curtains were still there, reaching out to them, and the slight breeze that came in whispered a dull song that brought goosebumps to Kotori's skin.

"Alright… this is better," Shigeo said, knowing it was a lie. He didn't feel better in that place at all, but at least no one would hear them. "Kotori… do you know who I am?"

He took one of her hands and held it tightly in his own, and as much as the redhead expected herself to be repulsed, there was something that made her hand relax in his grasp. She searched his eyes wordlessly, seeing that they were tired, but vibrantly looking back. Hopefully looking back.

"I feel like I do… but I don't. I feel like I've seen you before, too… but I know that I haven't." The hope gleaming in his eyes disappeared.

"I'm your husband," he said. "We live together in the Sun Kingdom. We have a daughter. You don't remember any of it?" She kept searching his eyes. Somewhere in there was a key… it would be the key to remembering everything. She knew it. But was it really there?

Suddenly, she saw the sky flash in her mind, the inky black sky, spotted with millions of tiny sequins, flashing brightly. Below her was a road of diamonds, and on either side of that road was the prettiest light she had ever seen. She heard a name in her ears said softly by a voice that… was her own?

"Shigeo!" she said, losing her breath. The man grasped harder onto her hand, trying to steady her. But the shock was cutting into her nerves, and she was shivering uncontrollably.

"Yes," he said softly. "Our daughter's?" She didn't take her eyes off of his. There were more answers the deeper she stared, and yet another vision went off inside of her mind. Her own arms holding a baby… and going off around her were the horrid sounds of what might've been a war…

"Hoshiko…?" Shigeo nodded, and before he knew what the feeling was inside of him, a tear fell down his face.

"I'm sorry…" he said, wiping it away. "Time passes much faster on the sun than it does on Earth. It's been a very long time without you."

"I lived in a castle… a tower!" Kotori said, her voice growing shrilly. "I can see it all! The window I stared through… the stars, the bright light we built our lives upon, I-I…"

"The fundamental beliefs on star kingdoms are different than those here," Capella said, folding her arms. Her eyes were still stern, focused on Shigeo. "The people of Earth look for their light in the sky. Ours came from the very ground we built our society upon. You know how she takes to change."

"Capella?" The redhead looked to her now.

"… Yes?"

"I see you, too. What did you do there?" It was finally time to answer the questions pertaining to _her_. Kotori deserved to know why she was constantly hovering over her all the time, she supposed.

"I was your caretaker when you were young. Your mother and father were very busy with the war, and you needed attention. Before Shigeo came, there was me," she explained. "Then he came along when you were older… about 14, I think. On the star of Sol, it's customary to wed young, so the two of you did. You had a child at 15, and by then, you didn't need me anymore. So I went to my own family."

"You had a family?"

"Of course I did! I wasn't some mindless drone… I had a husband and a daughter, too. Then, times got excessively dire on the sun what with the strange war going on, your father died, and your mother said that she wanted you to be taken to Earth for your safety. If anything happened to her, you would have to take over and rule. She figured there was no sense in the both of you getting hurt. Shigeo stayed to fight in the war, and I was once again appointed to watch over you."

Kotori swallowed hard, her shivering mellowing out a little. She was only remembering bits and pieces of things. Everything else was just a shock to her system.

"What happened to my daughter?" she then asked, her hand falling out of Shigeo's. When he nor Capella answered her, dread fell over her like a veil. "Well?" There was more silence, and the two of them looked at each other guiltily, almost playing a quiet game, the loser having to hand over the truth.

Now, Rufus remembered what Shigeo had said to him on that one fateful day when he had called out his name three times. It was the first day he had been on Earth. He remembered his sadness as he told the story, and his reluctance as well. Someone had to tell Kotori, and if Shigeo and Capella weren't, then…

"She disappeared before they could send her down to Earth with you," he said. "I didn't think it was fair for you to wait through their silence to hear the truth."

This had to be another dream. Was she in a coma? Did she fall down a flight of stairs or get mugged in an alley somewhere? What was going on? Kotori sat down on the white floor and held her head in her hands, fighting away an oncoming headache. She wanted to be a princess, she really did, but she didn't want to fight! She didn't want to go to war or do any of the hard things that a princess might have to do… she just wanted to be catered to…

"Does this mean I'm not a virgin?"

Her question was ignored.

"So how is the progress of the war? You came just recently, didn't you?" Capella asked, still glaring. It seemed that there was nothing he could do to deter her anger. Therefore, he stopped trying. A few of the insecurities dwindled away.

"It's just as bad, though you couldn't tell by looking at it from here. It's from some group called the Dark Matter Confederation, though I don't know their motives. Queen Solennia has nearly been assassinated, and the people are planning a full out mutiny next. There may only be a few choices, since it's gotten this bad." Capella's blood froze when she heard the name 'Dark Matter Confederation'. But, she ignored it, keeping the experience with Neo Sailor Moon and the police officers to herself.

"Well, knowing that time is passing much faster there than here, what are those other choices?" the blonde inquired. Her patience wasn't going to last her for the entire recap, and she herself knew this. Shigeo always wore her patience down.

"You senshi know what to do, don't you?"

Capella's reaction was very much unexpected. She released a raging scream and with amazing strength born from her anger, she lifted the man's 200 plus pound form an inch into the air by his cloak collar, sneered, growled, and would have bit his face off if Kotori and Rufus hadn't have been there watching. Shigeo's insecurities came back.

"We are _not_ doing that! No way in hell! Do you know how _dangerous_ that is?"

"Capella! Put him down!" Kotori was the Sun Princess, and now she knew it, so the blonde abided and eased her muscles, Shigeo coming back to terms with solid ground. It was only an inch, but an inch was an inch, and it was an inch that a female with nearly the height of an Amazon had brought him into the air.

"Listen," Shigeo said, attempting to bottle his shredded self-esteem, "all I'm saying is that wouldn't it be better to gather the rest of you as a team instead of the two of you coming back and attempting to fight both a war and an angry population?"

"I am willing to fight her battles myself!" Capella spat, poking him in the chest.

"Excuse me, I'm willing to fight my _own_ battles!"

Rolling her eyes, Capella once again folded her arms. "Thanks a _lot_," she murmured to him. Suddenly, before anything else could be said, something caught Rufus's eye. A dark silhouette in one of the windows leapt away and disappeared.

"Merope!"

And that was the end of it, he thought. She had heard it all. Everything. And by now, he was ready to believe that she wasn't on his side.

* * *


	9. Honor, Valor, and Justice

Lady's notes: Sooo… it's been awhile, eh? Well, I had to get this thing back on the go, since I fell too much in love with Kotori to just let it die out. I really did. I've never been this attached to one of my fanfics before (okay that's an outright lie – when I was like ten years old, I wrote a Digimon fanfic that was over 200 pages long. It was really bad, mind you, but I was that obsessed), so here it is. It's not in the best condition, since I always have a bit of a rocky start when I jump back into things, but I guess it's better than nothing, right? In the name of the Sun, ONWARD!

* * *

**Supernova in the Sky**

_Ch. 9_

Kotori stood there with her arms crossed, being the awkward observer in Capella and Shigeo's argument, and Rufus's maddening exclamation. There wasn't a lot that she knew what to do, except cross her arms tighter.

"You can't possibly be this bent on keeping her from her rightfully born duties!"

"You bet your ass on it that I am!"

After a bit of skillful tuning, the redhead was able to block out the two completely, and her worries were laid on Rufus. Something was wrong, and it was painted all over his feline face. Slowly, avoiding interfering with the fight, she approached him.

"What did you see?" Somewhat shocked, he turned to her and frowned.

"She used to be my friend," he murmured, tail twitching, eyes still fixated on the window. "A long, long time ago. Merope. She was the last one I would've expected to see here… I mean, after all… what are the chances?" A sorrowful smile was there for an instant, and in that instant, Kotori suddenly knew what she had to do.

It was an odd feeling. She knew nothing about who she really was, except the thin shell of a surface Shigeo had told her of, but everything she ever needed to know about her past was in that fraction of a moment. Something inside of her was fortified, and she knew that whatever the circumstances were, she was not a normal girl populating Japan. The orphans never are, are they?

"Let's go," she told him. Rufus looked up at her, searching her eyes that were so like his for what it was she really wanted.

"What?"

"Let's go! I know what you're thinking. I can tell! Something bad is happening, isn't it?"

"…Yes…" Suddenly, she heaved the cat up into her arms, with much effort, and bolted out of the door. It wasn't until then that Capella and Shigeo had noticed Kotori was no longer interested in what they were saying, and with an ear-curling curse, Capella lead the man out and after her.

Rufus was uncomfortable in Kotori's slipping grasp, and terrified of her plan.

"Where are we going?"

"We're gonna find that cat! And those two had better not stop me, because I've honestly had it with them!" Kotori huffed. "I'm gonna do what _I_ want, and I want to help you!" Something hit Rufus in a way that reminded him of Queen Mau. Why would Kotori care like this for him? In her eyes, he should be nothing more than an ordinary pet. "You've changed the way I've been thinking, you know. All I've been doing is silently feeling sorry for myself. And you've shown me that if I want something, I need to go out and find it! I'm done with just waiting around!"

Had it been the basket? Maybe it had been… he wanted to pamper her because he noticed that all she had been doing was feeling bad. Rufus smiled – it was good to know that he had the Kotori that no one else did. Quickly, he jumped out of her arms and led her where his nose would find Merope.

It was when they ran a little past an old park that they found trouble. A bright light sparked somewhere by the tallest tree within sight, and Kotori came to a halt, her mind bringing her back to the late-night news reports. The light grew and grew, and then in a second disappeared.

"Hey… hey, something's happening…!" the redhead murmured, wandering closer to the tree.

"Merope is around here… Kotori, I've got a better idea! Maybe we should go back and get Shigeo and Ca—"

"No, we're going to do this by ourselves, Rufus! Come on!" Kotori snapped. Her head darted back and forth, red hair flying every which way behind it, but she found nothing. It was just a light. Nothing else. But that didn't make any sense! Her heart pounded, because she knew that this was a stupid idea. Tackling the unknown by herself. Suddenly, she heard a noise. A voice. Someone was laughing! _Cackling_! At last, Kotori thought to look up, and she screamed.

"Who does this little girl think she is?"

Rufus's heart fell. The voice was just slightly deeper than Merope's, and when he saw the cat with who was lightly floating above Kotori's head, he knew that the two were made for each other. A woman, very tall and lithe and pale as a ghost, was dressed in a black, gray, and lavender sailor fuku, with the Abyssinian purring on her shoulder. Long, dark violet tresses shimmered and blew in the breeze, giving her ghost-like complexion an eerie boost. But what topped it off were eyes that matched the steely-gray of Merope's.

"What the hell are you doing? You're _hanging_ there! In the air! Are you on some kind of wire or something? Who the hell dresses up like some kind of nut and floats around?" Kotori shouted, balling up her fists. "And where did you get that outfit? As nutty as it looks, I think I kind of like it. Do you have one in yellow?" The woman scowled, her long pointy noise twitching just slightly. With an air of grace, her black boots, reaching up to her thighs mind you, landed her in the grass.

"Merope, you must tell your friend to find a companion with a little bit more attention span in tact," she said, petting Merope. "My name is Nebula. _Sailor_ Nebula."

"Really? Where did you dock from?" The woman gave a haughty laugh.

"Cute. You must think you're so funny, don't you?"

"I don't want to brag or anything," Kotori said, standing straight and folding her arms, "but I'm popular with kids. That means I'm funny." Nebula made a fist, and a glowing orb of violet light surrounded it. Kotori got the idea and immediately backed away.

"Sorry to break the mood, but I was sent here to do a job. Maybe you can at least go out with a laugh?"

"You mean you're going to _kill_ me?"

"Kotori, run!" Rufus yelled, ramming into her to give her a head start. It was just enough to avoid a powerful blast that came exploding right into a set of topiary bushes. Next, a ball of blue light formed in Nebula's hand.

"Didn't you tell her anything, Rufus?" Merope asked, leaping from the Sailor's shoulder and sitting curtly behind her. "You have a duty to fulfill as a guardian! You've really spoiled how fun this could be!" Nebula laughed at the thought and sighed.

"I know! There's no competition anymore, is there?" A bush of flowers was destroyed as the explosion narrowly missed Kotori and Rufus.

"What are they talking about? What could you, Capella, _and_ Shigeo have possibly left out of my reeducation?" Kotori snapped, glaring down at the cat. "Huh? What was there to miss? I'm a princess, I lived on the sun, my mother is a tyrant, what else?"

"You're a sailor senshi!" he huffed.

"A _what_-shi?" Rufus rolled his eyes and quickly guided her around a corner.

"You're a sailor senshi!" he repeated. "I don't remember how to do this, I don't remember how to do this, oh god I don't remember how to do this…"

"To do what?" Kotori yelled, lifting the cat up by the nape of his neck and shaking him. "Aren't I the one who needs to know how to do something? What do I do? There's something around that corner that isn't supposed to be real who's chasing me and throwing exploding things of color at me! Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"

Rufus wracked his brain. What were the instructions that he was given? How was he supposed to turn Kotori into the warrior that she was? Capella and Shigeo would know! But there was no way that Kotori would have that… no, she wanted to do this on her own! How could he be letting her down at this moment? He was supposed to be a guardian! He was supposed to know this! His eyes suddenly flew to the necklace dangling down past her collarbone – the gold and opal one Shigeo had picked out for her.

'_Start with a momento… something special…_'

Queen Mau's instructions! Of course! Start with something that the warrior can use to transform!

"Quick, Kotori, put your hand to your necklace!"

"Excuse me?"

"You wanna figure out how to do this on your own, don't you?"

"Yeah—"

"Then do it!" Kotori's hand flew to the locket. "Now… uh… say… say 'Supernova Make-up'!" She rolled her eyes.

"Super—"

"Nonono, say it _cool_!" He was right. She was a damn princess! She bathed in coolness! Kotori gave him a sly smile, gripped her necklace with one hand, and put the other hand before her face.

"_Supernova Make-up_!"

Ambient yellow and orange light enveloped the area as Kotori was made over by a glistening supernova. The birth of a star. The sun. Gold polish graced her nails and gold shadow danced over her eyes. A simple tiara, earrings of seven-point stars, and a single bangle on each wrist were the first signs of her new becoming; a sleeveless, pale-yellow bodysuit with a dark yellow sailor collar that draped in two points down her back was the next; matching dark boots with a seven-point star on the rim clothed her feet; a two-tiered short skirt, the top tier matching the bodysuit and the bottom tier matching the collar, flared out below her hips; finally, a string of pearls draped around each shoulder and a shimmering, transparent gold bow grew from where the locket had cemented itself as a broach on her chest. As the ambient light died, small ribbons tied a bow on her back, and a simple standing pose was struck.

"K… Kotori?"

The transition wasn't complete, however, without a loud, agonizing scream as the new redhead fell to her knees, clutching her head. A painful surge of memories and of who she really was came rushing back to Kotori. Images of everything – from meals at dinner time to talks with her mother to childbirth – accompanied feelings and senses. So many different sensations within seconds had overcome her.

"Kotori!" Rufus shouted, running over to her. "Hey! Hey, Kotori! Are you alright?"

"What the hell is happening to me?" she shouted, screaming again. "Why am I here? I shouldn't be here!"

"Kotori, Kotori, come on! Get it together! Sailor Nebula is gonna be around that corner any second now! Come on! Who are you?" Rufus made a vow to himself at that time – he would do anything he could to rally up this girl's spirit. She had a lot of it, as hidden as it sometimes was. She glared at him, a sense of longing in her once she set eyes on the golden ring on his forehead.

"I'm Sailor Sun. I fight… in the name of…"

He watched her pant, her mind still reeling with the pain of memories.

"Come on! What do you fight for? What should everyone be scared of in you?"

There was an explosion nearby. He was too late, Rufus realized. He hadn't acted quick enough, and Nebula had found them. The vile senshi floated on into the scene with Merope on her shoulder, and she held two orbs of red light in her palms.

"Looks like you did a half-assed job, Rufe," the Abyssinian said slyly, adding a laugh. Her and her Sailor companion chuckled together, watching as a shaky Kotori got to her feet. She no longer felt like herself, though really, she couldn't say that she had ever been herself. Was she the girl she had known after the amnesia incident? Or was she this new girl that she had been all along?

She couldn't debate that now. There was a duty pulsing in her heart. A voice in the back of her head, her voice, whispered violently unintelligible ramblings and sputters. Then, obviously through with waiting, Nebula launched her exploding orbs in her direction.

'—_Sunspot—_'

One word had come through in the hectic whispers in Kotori's head, and it was all she needed.

"Solar Magnetism Dissipation!"

Fearlessly, Kotori thrust her arm out in front of her with a pointed finger, and in a wave of heat and electrical pulses, Nebula's blast blew up in to pretty sparkles. She slowly descended onto solid ground, a blank expression on her face that started to grow indignant.

"Excuse me? What was that? I didn't say you could do that!" she shouted. Kotori put her hands on her hips and grinned.

"Hi Sailor Nebula. I'm Sailor Sun! Born and raised, I'm the Princess of Sol, and I fight for honor, for valor, and for justice!"

"Is this your little spiel that you're going to go on, now? Come on, Merope. We don't have to listen to this." Nebula rolled her eyes and turned away, starting down the sidewalk. She had at least been nice enough not to go off on _her_ spiel! Couldn't 'Sailor Sun' be kind enough to do the same?

"Oh yes you do!" Rufus shouted, running to Sailor Sun's side. "I wouldn't make a wrong move if I were you!"

"Or what?" Nebula asked, looking back. "She'll make my hair frizzy?"

"You know, I've endured one hell of a guessing game these recent years of my life," Sailor Sun replied, following her. "And now that I finally have some inkling of who I am, I'm gonna rub it in your face everywhere you go!" Immediately, Nebula snapped around with her hands on her hips.

"You are having _way_ too much fun with this. You really are. It's amazing how confident you are when the only attack in your arsenal is for defense. Just what do you think you're going to do?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes and inching closer. "I know how to do far more damage than you, and eventually, I'll exhaust your little dissipation trick, and one of my blasts will hit you, and I will prevail!"

The Earthen Kotori was still dominant, despite being clad as a senshi. That became a widely known fact because Kotori didn't understand the 'only one attack in your arsenal' bit, and figured that something perfectly mundane would suffice well enough. As Nebula inched closer and closer, the redhead promptly drove her fist into the woman's nose, scoring a perfect hit, a small shower of blood, and a yell of pain. However, the complementary victory package was gone as soon as the pissed off villain bore yellow orbs in her fists.

"Pull another stunt like that! I dare you!" she screamed. So, Kotori punched her in the gut this time, following it with a sweeping kick to the feet, knocking Nebula to the ground. Sailor Sun only had seconds to dive out of the way of the color blasts, which smashed into the front of a flower shop. The glass windows shattered, and tiny shards of glass littered the shop and sidewalk, glistening in the faint light of the sun.

"Fight like senshi, dammit!" Nebula said through gritted teeth. "Quit this immature Earth fighting and show me your power!"

"This is my power." Another kick was delivered, but didn't land. Nebula had caught Sailor Sun's heel before it connected with her face, and yanked it as hard as she could to send her flying back into the street.

"Sailor Sun!" Rufus ran after the redhead, but she quickly collected herself once skidding across the asphalt, frowning at the scrapes on her knees and elbows.

"Damn. Guess I can't keep this up for very long, can I?" she said, beginning to panic. "She's right. All I know how to do is dissipate her blasts. By the way, what are they?"

"Small collections of nebulaic plasma. They'll probably kill you."

"Oh. Shit. That sounds really bad. What do I have?"

Rufus pondered. He knew that Sailor Sun had a weapon of her own, but had no idea how to give it to her. How was he supposed to break _that_ news?

"Hang on a second! I have an idea!" Sun exclaimed, running off in Nebula's direction. The cat was about to protest, but she and the violet-haired woman were already at standoff. Nebula had orange orbs in her hands, and Sun had nothing but a ticking readiness to act.

"I hope you have some new tricks up your sleeve," Nebula sneered, "because I've got news for you: You're not gonna best me with sissy fighting!"

"To be honest," Sun said, "your attacks are getting tiresome, too. I hope _you_ have some new tricks up your sleeve! 'Cause believe me – I've got plenty." With that, Nebula angered, and threw her blasts full force.

"_Solar Magnetism Dissipation_!"

Rufus watched as Sailor Sun pointed not at the blasts, but at a telephone pole. There was a fizz, a flicker, and a shower of sparks as the metal bits shook free and fell, colliding with the explosions. Wires snapped and danced around on the ground with loose electricity, and then, as Sun guided them with the direction of her fingers, they shot after Nebula.

"Sailor Nebula, run!" Merope shouted. With a scream as she was shocked, the senshi abided her guardian's advice, scooped her up, and floated off.

"You think you're hot stuff!" she yelled, her voice shaky and panicked. "But you're _nothing_! But that's okay. You can think as high of yourself as you want, because sooner or later, you'll see the true nature of Sailor Nebula. And if you're lucky, I'll come with some friends next time!"

Wild laughter and the senshi's image trailed off as Merope and Nebula vanished. All Kotori and Rufus could do was stare up into the sky, listening as the crackling of raw electricity died down around them, and their audience began cheering. The redhead's spirits suddenly soared – citizens had gathered around the fight and were taking pictures of her! With a valiant smile, she stood as tall and proud as she could and struck a simple, if a tad narcissistic, pose.

"Fear not, citizens of Japan! Sailor Sun is here to protect you from the vile villains that vanish in and out of nowhere and cause panic to all! I will defend you in the name of honor, valor, and justice!"

It wasn't the best beginning line, and she was well aware of that, but everyone had to start somewhere, didn't they? Kotori tried to ignore how corny and ridiculous she sounded, hoping to alleviate that with some practice. When she looked to Rufus, though, he showed signs of obvious embarrassment. Whether it was because of her or all of the attention, she couldn't be sure.

"There's another senshi!"

"I didn't know there were so many!"

"How long has it been since we've seen anyone but the new Sailor Moon?"

There were tons of comments and people waving, but none of them dared to get too close save for one tiny little girl. She had a head of wispy brown hair and a rather malnourished frame, but despite her frail appearance, she bravely approached the senshi without a second thought.

"H-hi!" Kotori grinned and kneeled down to her.

"Hey! You're a pretty girl!" Of course it was a lie, because the girl looked more raggedy than a dog's playtoy, but Kotori found no reason to say such a thing.

"S-so are you! I've made up my mind that you're my favorite sailor senshi out of all of them!"

"All of them? Just how many of them are there?"

"Well," the little girl said, readying her fingers for counting on, "everyone says that the old ones will never come back, and I've never actually seen them, but I look at their pictures and read their stories all the time! The old Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury—"

"Is it safe to assume that there's one for every planet?"

"Yeah! And then everyone says that the new Sailor Moon used to be called Sailor Chibimoon, and when she grew up, she took her mother's place! But her and Sailor Saturn are the only ones we see anymore. I used to be really sad about it, because I love the senshi! And I never got the chance to see any of the old ones team up… but now there'll be more, won't there!"

"We'll just start with me, okay? I guarantee that I'll be the best!" The girl smiled her gap-toothed grin. "What's your name, anyway?"

"My name's Miho! Tasakura Miho! I'm gonna be your biggest fan!"

Suddenly, just as Kotori shook her newest enthusiast's hand, an irritating voice called out to her from afar.

"Hey! Sailor Sun! Get your ass over here!"

Capella. The redhead grumbled and patted Miho on her ratty head, gave her parting words, and dashed off with Rufus. Capella and Shigeo waited for them back at the topiary park, one upset as usual, and the other one completely in awe when Sailor Sun approached.

"Yes? Can I help you citizens out?"

"Cut it out, Kotori. Though, you do pull off the monotone fuku pretty well. Never thought I'd admit yellow would actually flatter you. Now change back and let's head back to the orphanage," Capella said, crossing her arms.

"I'm not sure I want to!" Kotori replied, striking a model pose. "I'm famous already! I already have fans, Capella!" Her eyes drifted to Shigeo for a moment, who just stared with a dazed look over his eyes.

"I'm sorry for staring. I guess I can't believe it. I thought I would never get the chance to see you again, the you that I really knew." He smiled with his dimples, and something felt so right and familiar about it to Kotori. She couldn't believe it, but for the first time since everything had started, she began to believe that her old self and her new self would mesh, and she would come to be the Kotori that she was always meant to be.

* * *


End file.
